If Only In My Dreams
by switz
Summary: When Emma discovers she's dying, can Max step in to save her? One Last Wish story. Completed.
1. Chapter One

Disclaimer/Explanation~ This story is based off the One Last Wish series with a slight crossover into the Night World series by L.J. Smith (mainly because I've borrowed the major plotline from NW1, but the story should be understandable, even if you haven't read NW). Still, it fits here better, I think. So anyway, I do not own either the aforementioned series, but I do own some characters and such. Oh, and I know that Survivor, Charmed and ER all aren't on the same night anymore, but they were when I began to write this story last year. So technically it is kind of valid. Okay, enough of my rambling. On with the story. . .  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Everything had been so perfect the day before that Emma should have expected something, should have figured that some bad karma was coming her way. But who ever expects something when life is so good? Besides, Emma Kinney had had enough tragedy in her past; it seemed to her that it was about time that things had started looking up.  
  
Yesterday had been Thursday, and it had been wonderful. Emma had gone to her boyfriend Max's house for TV night. First they had watched Survivor, which both of them loved and were thoroughly addicted to. Then Emma had changed the station and made Max watch Charmed. Emma loved that show. Personally, she didn't believe in witchcraft or anything like that, but she did believe that it made for a wickedly fun program. And Max put up with it, so why not? Then they had watched ER, Max's choice. He had this thing for medical shows, and he did watch Charmed, so Emma put up with it.  
  
Max. Emma still could not believe that they were together. They had gone to school together since junior high, but they'd never really noticed each other until a couple of weeks ago. Emma wondered what had taken them so long. When she was with Max, she felt. . .well it was hard to describe. Other boys had made her feel pretty, or sexy, or smart, but Max. . .Max made her feel special like no boy ever had before. She felt pretty and strong, like she could do anything she set her mind to. He made her feel. . .complete. He was her equal and they balanced each other out perfectly. She had never felt this connected to any other guy her entire life. Her stepfather, Mark, said that she was young and didn't know any better, but what did he know? There was just something about Maxwell Jude Pine that sent Emmanuelle Sage Kinney's heart into overdrive.  
  
And then, to top off getting both Max and her Survivor fix in one night, the next day was Friday, it was only a couple of more weeks until school was out for the summer, and Kristen was already asleep when Emma got home.  
  
Kristen Marie Taylor was not someone that Emma Kinney wanted to deal with on a daily basis. Unfortunately she had to, because Kristen was her stepsister and they also had to share a room. Emma didn't mind her stepbrother Sean, who was 20. Most of the time, Sean was away at college, but since college let out a month before high school, he was already home. And Emma actually liked her stepbrother Michael, who was 10. He was a cute kid. But Emma absolutely couldn't stand Kristen, who was 17 and a junior, just like Emma. Kristen always acted like she was older and wiser than Emma; while in fact she was only about 2 months older, having been born in October. Emma had been born on Christmas. Well, it made sense with a name like Emmanuelle Sage Kinney.  
  
Emma had had a wonderful life until she was eight. That was the year her father, Brian, had died of lung cancer, though he'd never smoked his entire life. Emma's world had been shattered. She was her parents' only child, and to lose her father was to lose half of her family. Emma's mother, Stephanie, had been devastated as well. Brian and Stephanie had been perfect for each other. Emma was under the impression that if soulmates actually existed, then Brian John Kinney and Stephanie Anne Merlo were a prime example. For years it was just Steph and Emma, but then three years ago, Stephanie had met Mark Joseph Taylor. Mark was a little strict, but a nice guy. The reason she didn't particularly like him was because he wasn't her father, and her mom and dad had been soulmates, so what was he doing here, thank you very much? But even just putting up with Mark wouldn't have been bad in itself. Emma was used to him. The problem was with Mark's first wife, Karen. Karen had had control of the three Taylor children, and she had been remarried to a man named Seth Wallace who had three kids of his own living with him. Bob, Jaime and Cara, Emma believed their names were. And that had been working out okay, except at the time Stephanie and Mark were getting married, Karen and Seth had a baby, Stephen. The Taylor kids could put up with their Wallace stepsiblings, apparently, but when it came to their mom's new baby, no way. They had decided that living with only one stepsister had to be better than 3 stepsibs and a baby half-brother, and therefore they got the court orders changed so they could live with Mark. Oh, they went to go visit Karen, of course, but not often enough in Emma's opinion.  
  
So after all of that, Emma figured she deserved the good things she'd been getting recently.  
  
Only once during their evening, during ER, had Emma's stomach acted up. Emma held her stomach in tight and tried not to double over as the pain gnawed in her abdomen for a couple of minutes. Even so, Max noticed, and asked her what was wrong.  
  
"Oh nothing, stomach cramp," she replied cheerfully, mentally begging him to drop it.  
  
The look he gave her was inscrutable, but he didn't mention it any more.  
  
The first time Emma's abdomen had flared up in pain had been a couple of months ago. She and Kristen had been alone in their room, and Emma had taken a quick gasp of breath as her stomach throbbed with pain for a couple of seconds. Emma had been fully meaning to tell her mom, but Kristen had stopped her.  
  
"You're not going to worry Stephanie with that, are you?" Kristen had said, "Do you really want to make her worry over something that's probably just gas?"  
  
No, Emma hadn't. She hated to admit that Kristen was right, after all, Kristen hadn't FELT how painful it was, but she also hated to make Stephanie worry, and her mom had been somewhat more neurotic since Brian had died. So she kept it silent. Over the past couple of months the twinges in her stomach had been getting more frequent and longer in duration, but Emma hadn't mentioned them again. She was sure they would go away soon. It just took some positive thinking.  
  
So that morning, that fateful Friday morning began like any other. Emma got up and took a shower. As she was standing in front of the mirror, brushing her hair, however, she got another stomach cramp. This one was so bad that Emma saw spots in front of her eyes.  
  
"Excuse me, I need the bathroom!" Kristen called, pounding on the door.  
  
Emma clutched to the countertop, willing the pain to go away. Finally, she was able to stand up and call, "In a minute," and finish her daily routine. Emma gave herself a looking over in the mirror. Long brown hair, big brown eyes. She was pretty, but not necessarily beautiful. She had the same coloring as Mark, Sean, Kristen and Michael, but one could tell that they weren't blood related. They didn't look alike at all. That was just as good. Emma didn't want to look like them. Finally, she gave up the bathroom to Kristen and went to her room to put on some clothes.  
  
Coming downstairs into the kitchen, she saw Michael sitting and eating cereal at the kitchen table, and Stephanie standing waiting for her toast to finish cooking.  
  
"Hey, sport," Emma said, smiling at her stepbrother.  
  
"Hi, Emma. Stephanie's going to take me to school today and help me with my float. She's also going to stay for the parade, right Stephanie?"  
  
"That's right, Michael," said Stephanie, ruffling his hair.  
  
The fifth graders were doing a state project in which they had to make a float out of a cardboard box that represented a state. Michael had done New Hampshire, and his float had purple papier-mâché mountains on it. It was really cute.  
  
Emma pulled out a box of cereal. "Mmm, breakfast, I'm starving," she said. Holding the box in one hand, she reached for a ceramic bowl with the other.  
  
Just then, Kristen walked in. "I really don't know how you can eat in the morning."  
  
"Now Kristen, we've been through this before," Stephanie admonished, "You need to be eating breakfast."  
  
Emma had started to tune them out, because a wave of dizziness and pain had washed over her. She reached out to put the cereal and the bowl on the table, but her hands couldn't make it and the items dropped to the ground. The cereal spilled all over the linoleum and the bowl shattered into many pieces.  
  
Three pairs of eyes whirled on Emma.  
  
"Emma Sage!" her mom chided, "What was that? You clean it up right now!"  
  
But Emma could barely hear her, much less comply. Dots were swimming in front of her eyes. Dizzy, so dizzy; and the pain! Emma's face was contorted. It had never been this bad before. And then Emma felt herself fall and the world mercifully went black. 


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter 2  
  
Emma woke up with her face wet.  
  
"Annie! Sweetie, are you okay?" At first Emma was disoriented. Who was Annie? But then she remembered that she was. Annie had been her mom's pet name for her a long time ago ~ from, Emm-AN-uelle, and also because it came from Steph-ANIE. It was the part of the name that the mother and daughter had shared. But Stephanie hadn't called her Annie since her father had died. That must mean she's really worried, Emma thought. Ever since Stephanie and Mark had been married, it had been enough to get her mom to call her Emmanuelle, much less Annie. Mark thought it was a frivolous name. So the family just pretended that her name was Emma Sage Kinney, which annoyed Emma half to death. Emma was fine as a nickname, but gosh darn; her full name was Emmanuelle Sage. There were times when Emma thought she would like to go by Noelle, but it was never happening. Not in this family.  
  
Emma slowly sat up, pushing her long brown hair out of her eyes. "I'm fine. I think I've got really bad gas or something. Something I ate must have disagreed with me."  
  
"Uh, uh," Stephanie said, "Don't try to pull the wool over my eyes, Emma Sage. For one thing, you haven't eaten anything today. And secondly, you were in too much pain for that. I could see it in your face. And you've never fainted in your life. This has been going on for a couple of days, hasn't it? You must think I don't notice anything. I thought it was just that time of month, but this seems more serious. I'm taking you to the hospital, pronto, no excuses."  
  
Emma didn't have the heart to tell her mom that it had been going on a lot longer than a couple of days. "But I'm fine. . ." she started weakly.  
  
"I said no excuses, Emmanuelle."  
  
Stephanie had called her Emmanuelle; that definitely meant she was serious.  
  
"But Stephanie," Michael piped up, "You said you were going to take me to school today."  
  
Stephanie sighed. "You're right, I did. I don't know what I'm going to do."  
  
Just then, Sean came in wearing his pajamas, flannel pants and a tee shirt, with his brown hair all sleep tousled.  
  
"What's the hubbub about?" he asked, yawning.  
  
Stephanie looked at him as though he were an angel. "Sean, I need your help. I promised Michael I'd take him to school. Can you possibly take Emma to the hospital?"  
  
"Why would Emma need to go to the hospital?" he asked, looking as Emma half sprawled on the floor. "She looks fine to me."  
  
"Emma fainted," Kristen informed him, "Stephanie's worried. Will you just do this so we can get on with our lives?"  
  
"Fine, let me get dressed," Sean said and left the room.  
  
When Stephanie went to help Michael move his float into the van, Kristen turned to Emma.  
  
"I guess your little attention grabber didn't work how you wanted it to," she hissed.  
  
Emma was confused. "What do you mean?"  
  
"I know as well as you do that you're jealous you have to share your mom with us. In fact, you're afraid she likes us better. I'm glad that she's not going with you, you brat."  
  
"Kristen, I didn't faint on purpose," Emma told her earnestly.  
  
"Like hell you didn't," Kristen said and stormed off.  
  
Just then, Sean returned, and Emma followed him to his car. As Sean started driving, Emma sighed. She did not want to go to the hospital. She hated having her mom worry. Hopefully this would just be a mistake and it would blow over. But Emma knew it wasn't a mistake. Her stomach had been hurting on and off for about two months now. Well maybe it would be something really stupid, that she just needed a big shot for or something, and she'd be all better, no harm done.  
  
"So what's wrong with you Emmykins?" Sean asked.  
  
Emma stuck her tongue out at the hated nickname. Sean knew she hated it; it was the only reason he continued to use it.  
  
"Nothing," she lied, "Mom's overreacting." Deep in the pit of her stomach, Emma knew something was wrong. But then again, maybe SHE was overreacting. She'd freaked herself out. So she really wasn't lying, she rationalized. Nothing is seriously wrong. She just had to keep thinking that. Positive thinking, remember?  
  
"Then again," she joked, "Maybe I have appendicitis, and I'll end up with a cool scar."  
  
Sean laughed. "Again? What is it with you and your appendix? Or should I say, lack of?" It was common knowledge that Emma had had an appendectomy when she was three. Whenever she wore anything that bared her belly one could see the scar. Of course, Max thought it was cute.  
  
They arrived at the hospital too soon for Emma's taste. No, she just wanted it over, remember? They checked her in at the Emergency Room, not knowing where else to go.  
  
"What's the problem?" the desk clerk asked.  
  
"I fainted, and my mom wanted me checked out," Emma replied.  
  
"Who's he?"  
  
"My stepbrother. My mom couldn't bring me."  
  
They gave Emma some forms to fill out about her insurance policy, and such, and finally, a doctor invited her into a room, but made Sean stay out. Emma was glad; she didn't want him in the room with her and the doctor.  
  
"So what seems to be the problem, Miss Kinney?" the doctor asked.  
  
"I fainted and my mom wanted me to come in," Emma told him.  
  
"And why did you faint?"  
  
And the truth came out. Emma had told him about the pain in her abdomen, and how it had been intensifying over the past couple of months, and the look of concern on the doctor's face grew. He asked her to describe the kind of pain it was exactly and she told him how it felt like something was gnawing its way back to her spine. He made her lay down on the table and he felt her entire abdomen. And suddenly, he stopped.  
  
"Is there any way to get in touch with your mother or father?" he asked, "I'd like to run a test and I'll need their permission." Emma borrowed Sean's cell phone to call her mom at the grade school and put the doctor on. Mrs. Taylor agreed to the test and said she would come as soon as she could. Sean needed to leave to go to work, and suddenly, Emma was alone in the big scary hospital.  
  
They did a sonogram on her, and then gave her a hospital room and gown. Not long after, Stephanie arrived, looking worried.  
  
"I've talked to the doctors, sweetie," she said in too cheerful of a voice. "Apparently, they need to run a couple more tests on you." So Emma got a CAT scan, and a tube into her stomach, and by the time they were done she was so exhausted that she just fell asleep without asking what was wrong.  
  
Later when she woke up, Stephanie was there.  
  
"Mom, what do the tests say?" Emma asked, "What's wrong with me?"  
  
"Nothing," said Stephanie. Emma could tell that Stephanie believed what she was saying, but Emma didn't believe her.  
  
"Mom, what!" she yelled.  
  
"Ssh," Stephanie whispered, "Just a little bitty cancer. Don't tell anyone. It's not a big deal."  
  
"NOT A BIG DEAL????" Emma yelled in shock and disbelief. Her eyes widened even further as Stephanie grabbed her wrists tightly.  
  
"Emma, you have to promise. Don't tell anyone, okay. It's no big deal. We'll fix it, oh Emmy we'll fix it!"  
  
Emma had never seen her mother like this before and it frightened her. She had no choice but to agree. But that mean she didn't have the right to know exactly what was going on. So after Stephanie called home to tell everyone that Emma was just fine and dandy, and simply needed a couple days rest, and then went to pick up Michael, Emma searched out a doctor.  
  
She finally found the ER doctor on the phone. "Yes, I know it's short notice, but it's desperate. I do think she'll really benefit. . . Okay, I'll wait back for your call, okay, bye." He turned around and jumped to see Emma there.  
  
"Miss Kinney, what a surprise."  
  
"Hey, doc," Emma greeted him, "I'm here because I just talked to my mom. She just told me that I had a little bit of cancer and that's it. I've never seen her this way before, and so I thought I should probably get details."  
  
Dr. Nelson's face was grave. "I think perhaps you'd better sit down," as Emma continued to stand, he continued, "or perhaps not. Emmanuelle, I'm afraid your mother is in denial, major denial. You see, you don't have a little bit of cancer that we can just blast away and be done with. You have pancreatic cancer which has progressed to its fourth stage. I'm afraid that there's nothing we can do for you. I didn't want to tell you this way, but I realize that your mother would never have let you know, and I think it's something you do need to know."  
  
I'm dying, Emma thought, then found herself asking the doctor, "How much longer do I have?"  
  
"A couple of months at the most," he replied, "I'm sorry."  
  
Emma was finding herself reacting exceedingly calmly to the news. I'm going to die this summer, she thought. I won't make it to my 18th birthday. I'll never officially become an adult. Well. . . that sure throws a monkey wrench into my future plans, doesn't it? 


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter 3  
  
Remarkably calm and dazed as she might be, Emma still wanted to know more about her condition and what it entailed. So Dr. Nelson explained it to her.  
  
Her cancer was metastatic pancreatic cancer, because it had started in her pancreas and spread. One of the places it had spread to was her liver.  
  
"As you can see," Dr. Nelson explained, "One of the symptoms you have is jaundice. That's why your skin has that yellowish cast to it."  
  
Emma stared at her hands and arms in horror. "I never would have thought. . . I have a naturally golden skin tone. My mom's dad, my Grandpa Merlo, was from Mexico. I just thought I was starting my summer tan."  
  
"Well, this isn't your Mexican skin," he assured her, "It doesn't even look healthy."  
  
He also explained that pancreatic cancer for someone her age was EXTREMELY rare. "If I hadn't seen the results of those tests upfront, I never would have believed it," he assured her, "And I think I've only heard of one or two other cases in my entire career. You had none of the normal risk factors involved, but cancer often happens that way. People with all the risk factors may never get it, and those who have none surprise us all."  
  
"Like me," said Emma.  
  
"Yes, like you," he replied.  
  
One thing had been bothering Emma. "I know my cancer's spread too far for you to do anything, but I first started having stomach pains a couple of months back. If I had come in then, would you have been able to do more?"  
  
Dr. Nelson shrugged. "Not necessarily. I don't know how advanced it was at that time."  
  
It wasn't like she could blame Kristen anyway, Emma told herself. She didn't have to listen to Kristen when Kristen told her not to worry Stephanie. So it was technically Emma's own fault that it hadn't been caught sooner.  
  
"Will I be able to go home?" she asked.  
  
"I want to keep you several more days. There's nothing we can do to cure your cancer, but as I'm sure you know, it's quite painful. I want to test you on several pain medications to figure out which one will work best for you."  
  
"Then I can go home?" she asked him.  
  
He nodded. "Yes, Emmanuelle, then you can go home."  
  
Emma was in a daze over her next few days in the hospital, trying to digest everything Dr. Nelson had told her about her condition. It was a lot to digest, worrying about a physics test one day and being told that you were dying and there was nothing anybody could do about it the next. Emma longed to pour out her feelings to someone, but she'd promised her mom that she wouldn't tell anyone what was going on, and Emma always kept her promises. Besides, it was obvious that her mom had become even crazier than she'd previously been and SOMEBODY in the family had to stay strong. That apparently had to be Emma. So she endured her mixed up emotions in silence as the doctors tried combinations of pain medication on her.  
  
Emma managed a phone conversation with Max, assuring him she was all right. She wanted to tell him the truth, but she'd promised her mom. She got the impression that he didn't quite believe her though.  
  
"Em, I don't bite," he said, "You know you can tell me anything."  
  
"Max, I'm fine. Nothing's wrong," she assured him, "Don't worry about me."  
  
"But I do worry," he said.  
  
Emma sighed. Max. How was she going to handle this? She loved Max dearly, but she was going to have to let him go. It wasn't fair for her to hog him when she was just going to die within a few months. And she had to let him go in a way that wouldn't reveal anything that was really going on. She had to be the strong one through this. Stephanie certainly couldn't handle it.  
  
The irony of the fact that she was the one being strong for her mom when she was the one that was dying didn't escape her. But there was nothing she could do about it.  
  
Emma had received lots of cards from her friends those couple of days she was in the hospital. Her best friend, Raquel Samaniego, had sent her a stuffed cat, knowing how Emma loved cats. She also called constantly, but Emma found Raquel's calls way easier to field than Max's.  
  
"So, you missed the absolute HARDEST physics test in the world," Raquel told her Monday afternoon, when Emma had been in the hospital three days, "Man, if I was in the hospital I would be the one missing physics. How come you get all the luck, Ella?"  
  
Raquel was the only one who didn't call her Emma. Wanting to be nonconformist, but thinking 'Emmanuelle' was way too much, she had settled on Ella. When Emma had posed 'Noelle' she had disagreed.  
  
"No way, Elle, you need a name for all year round. Noelle's such a seasonal name."  
  
Well, there was another 'no' for Noelle, she had thought at the time, and decided to deal with Ella, which WAS cute in its own way.  
  
Monday, however, her mind was far from what nickname she would prefer. "You might not believe me, Quel, but I actually miss physics."  
  
"Ay, yi, yi, chica!" Raquel exclaimed, "Now I know why you're in the hospital. You've gone absolutely bonkers!"  
  
"I thought you already knew that," Emma joked, "But you know, I do miss choir the most."  
  
"Now there's the Ella I know and love," Emma could almost hear Raquel smile, "Diva Ella."  
  
"Yeah, diva. That's me," Emma found herself giggling in spite of herself.  
  
"Girl, you OWN the choir. You are going to end up a famous opera singer someday or something."  
  
"You only say that because you're tone deaf," Emma told her. It did make her kind of sad to think about what Raquel had said. Emma had thought about pursuing a career in music ~ she'd always been good at singing, but this whole cancer thing was ruining that too.  
  
"Just because I'm can't sing doesn't mean I don't know good music when I hear it," Raquel said hotly. And thus the conversation continued on.  
  
She was really going to miss Raquel when she died, Emma realized. They had become best friends the first day of high school. Raquel Veronica Samaniego had been born in Ecuador and hadn't believed that someone with a name like Emma Kinney had Hispanic heritage. And it was the first time Emma had ever really thought about it. All of her grandparents had died when she was little, and so she never really connected to her Mexican side, never really known her grandpa Merlo. But when she was with Raquel, it was like she got to explore a brand new side of herself (despite the fact it had always been there). Plus Raquel was a blast to hang around, and the two girls ended up causing a lot of mischief when they were together.  
  
It really wasn't fair, Emma thought. She didn't want to have to leave all the people she cared about prematurely. Max and Quel. Her stepsiblings (well, good riddance to Kristen, but the other two she'd miss) and her step dad. Her mom. Even though Stephanie had been somewhat crazy for the past nine years, Emma loved her mother dearly. Stephanie was the only blood relative she had left, and it worked the opposite way as well. Emma was jolted by that realization. When she died, her mom would be all alone. Sure, there were Mark, Sean, Kristen, and Michael, but it wasn't the same thing.  
  
What kind of world was it where a girl with her kind of family history got diagnosed with incurable pancreatic cancer? Emma thought bitterly.  
  
Emma was finally supposed to be released on Tuesday, with brand new pain medicine. She was just glad to be going home, and certainly not expecting anything out of the ordinary.  
  
But it wasn't to be. Because when Emma woke up on Tuesday morning, she discovered a mysterious looking envelope on the pillow next to her head. 


	4. Chapter Four

This chapter was absolutely inspired and came out like melted butter (I know, weird metaphor; I'm hungry). I hope you guys enjoy it!  
  
Chapter 4  
  
The envelope had her name written on it in elegant script, so there was no question that it was meant for her. Emma turned it over in her hands and then finally ripped it open.  
  
There were two pieces of paper inside, one a letter. Emma tilted the letter to get the best view of it and read.  
  
Dear Emmanuelle,  
  
You don't know me, but I know about you, and because I do, I want to give you a special gift. Accompanying this letter is a certified check, my gift to you, with no strings attached, to spend on anything you want. No one knows about this gift except you, and you are free to tell anyone you want.  
  
Who I am isn't really important, only that you and I have much in common. Through no fault of our own, we have endured pain and isolation and have spent many days in a hospital feeling lonely and scared. I hoped for a miracle, but most of all I hoped for someone to truly understand what I was going through.  
  
I can't make you live longer I can't stop you from hurting. But I can give you one wish, as someone did for me. My wish helped me find purpose, faith, and courage.  
  
Friendship reaches beyond time, and the true miracle is in giving, not receiving. Use my gift to fulfill your wish.  
  
Your Forever Friend,  
  
JWC  
  
Well, I haven't spent THAT much time in the hospital, Emma thought wryly, nor do I plan to. But the rest of the letter seemed dead on to how she was feeling. Except, how did this JWC know about her? She'd only been diagnosed with her cancer on Friday. Emma shrugged and looked at the other piece of paper.  
  
And promptly dropped it.  
  
"That can't be right," she whispered. It was a check made out for one hundred thousand dollars. She looked at it again, just to make sure it was authentic. It looked authentic enough and was signed by someone named Richard Holloway from the One Last Wish foundation. She counted the zeros. And still, the amount on the check remained the same. Emma laid the check on her lap next to her letter. Why on EARTH would someone who didn't even know her send her that much money? What would she do with it? If Emma's cancer had been curable, it could have easily been spent on hospital bills and medicine, but she doubted that the pain medicine she would need for the last couple months of her life (if she even had that long) would eat up that much money.  
  
"What a waste," she murmured, looking at the check again.  
  
"Waste of what?" Emma groaned to see Kristen coming into the room, "Are you ready to go yet? Everyone's down in the lobby waiting for you since Stephanie HAD to drag the whole family. So why are you just sitting here dawdling?"  
  
"Gee, you sure are being nice to the sick girl," Emma said sarcastically to her stepsister.  
  
"Oh, come on. I know you're not really sick. We all know that you just 'collapsed from exhaustion.'"  
  
Actually, Emma hadn't known that. She hadn't known what Stephanie was telling people about her condition. So, they were apparently just writing it off as exhaustion.  
  
Kristen had grabbed the duffel bag Stephanie had brought Emma, and was shoving Emma's personal toiletries in it. "I can't believe you don't have your stuff together! You're really milking this hospital thing to the fullest, aren't you? 'Look at me, I'm so tired I collapsed and had to go to the hospital. Poor me, you need to help me and give me lots of attention because I can't do anything myself.' I'm completely sick of your prissy attitude!"  
  
"It's not like that at all!" Emma exclaimed, jumping off the bed, causing the papers in her lap to flutter to the floor.  
  
"Yeah right!" Kristen said, lunging for the papers on the ground.  
  
"Kristen, don't. . ." Emma began in horror, realizing just what Kristen was holding. As she tried to grab her stuff back, Kristen held it above her reach. Damn Kristen for being taller than her. Emma stamped her foot. "Kristen, give me back my letter."  
  
"Like hell I will. I want to see what's got you so riled up." Kristen scanned the papers she was holding, and her jaw dropped.  
  
"You little twit!" Kristen had turned red, "Now you've managed to get anonymous benefactors giving you obscenely large amounts of money? Is there any level you won't stoop to?"  
  
"Give it back, Kristen," Emma said evenly.  
  
"You and your pathetic attempts for attention! You've even got strangers on your side! Well, I'm going to go find this. . . this. . . JWC and tell them just what an absolute fake you are!"  
  
Emma's emotions, which had been stretched out beyond belief throughout the past weekend, were wearing thin. "Maybe you'd better make sure you know everything before you rush off and do something rash," Emma's voice was low and dangerous.  
  
"What's not to know? It's not like I haven't been living with you for the past three years. I know how jealous you are, how resentful that we barged into your perfect little life. I know you want us gone. Well, guess what? What makes you think we feel any differently? I don't want you around anymore than you want me around. I wish you would just go away forever!" Kristen's voice had risen to a scream.  
  
And Emma snapped. "Well good!" she screamed back, not even thinking about what she was saying, "Can you wait a couple of months, maybe? Because by then I'll be DEAD and you WON'T have to deal with me EVER AGAIN!"  
  
That had stopped Kristen in her tracks. "You won't be dead in a couple of months," she accused, "Unfortunate as it is, you're here to stay."  
  
"Wanna bet?" Emma challenged, "I'm not here because I'm exhausted; I'm here because I have incurable pancreatic cancer and I will be dead by the end of the summer."  
  
Kristen was shaking her head as Emma continued, more calmly, in fact, almost nonchalantly. "Remember those stomach pains I've been having the past couple of months, when you told me to ignore them? Yep, pancreatic cancer."  
  
"But. . . no. Stephanie would have said something," Kristen said confidently  
  
"I love my mom more than anything in the world, but we both know she's crazy. She's been crazy since my dad died. They were soulmates, you know. And I would hate to be you after I go. She's going to be even worse. After I die, she's going to have absolutely no one."  
  
"You seem to be forgetting my dad, my brothers and I," Kristen pointed out, not quite with the confidence of before.  
  
"It's not the same thing. Mom likes Mark and all, but it's nothing like she had with my dad, and I'm the last that's related by blood."  
  
Kristen was shaking her head. "No, you can't have cancer. You're way too calm about this!"  
  
"Only because I have to be," the façade broke and tears threatened to spill, "Someone has to be strong through this and it's not going to be my mom. There's nothing I would like to do better than run outside and scream about how unfair the world is. But mom wants to keep everything secret because she's in denial. And this is just as unfair to her as it is to me. So I have to at least do that much for her," Emma look up at Kristen, the tears finally rolling down her cheeks, "Except I couldn't even do that, apparently, because I told you."  
  
Of all the people Emma would have preferred to break her promise on, Kristen had been last on the list. Figures she would be the one to know, then.  
  
The look on Kristen's face went from doubt to acceptance and belief of what her stepsister was telling her, as Emma continued to cry. "Well. . . Stephanie doesn't have to know I know. You know?" she tried helplessly to make a joke, unsure of what to do with this new knowledge.  
  
Emma managed a short laugh. "Thanks."  
  
"Oh, and, here's your stuff," Kristen said, handing Emma the letter and the check.  
  
Emma nodded, wiping her tearstained cheeks as Stephanie walked in. "What's taking so long girls? Everyone downstairs is getting antsy," she peered closer at the stepsisters, "You aren't fighting, are you?"  
  
"Of course not, Stephanie," Kristen lied smoothly, "Emma's just upset to be leaving all the great hospital food."  
  
"Oh, okay," Stephanie said, "Mercy, Emma Sage, you're not fully packed yet!"  
  
Emma shot Kristen a look of respect that she could come up with something believable off the top of her head like that. Maybe there was more to her stepsister than met the eye.  
  
Stephanie bustled around, packing Emma's things in the duffel bag. "There we go, all done!" she announced cheerfully.  
  
Emma looked down at the letter and check in her hands, and then back at her mother. What good was being granted so much money for a wish, she thought, when the things you wish for are those that money can't buy? 


	5. Chapter Five

Notes ~ Remember that slight crossover I mentioned in my disclaimer in Chapter One? Well, it's always been there, but it's going to start coming out a bit more now, probably more so in the next chapter than this one, but if the story seems a bit . . . different, remember it was part of the master plan from the beginning. Like I said, it isn't enough of a crossover that you won't understand the story. I will make sure to explain everything that might be the slightest bit confusing. Just thought I'd give you the heads up if you're wondering about the direction the story's taking.  
  
I would like to thank everybody that's reviewed my story so far. It means a lot to me.  
  
Zera ~ You reviewed a while ago, and I've added a couple of chapters since then, but here's some more.  
  
hersheybar ~ I love getting reviews from you! They're so nice and they make me smile! Thank you so much!  
  
Shinegami's Sis ~ Eh, I do have a tendency to end my chapters with pseudo- cliffhangers, don't I? I'm afraid I did it again with this chapter. But hey, whatever gets people to read more, right?  
  
Right-o ~ now on to the story . . .  
  
Chapter 5  
  
It was very important for Emma to finish out her junior year. She wanted to re-establish a sense of normalcy where there really wasn't one anymore. She wanted to see her friends and pretend like everything was going to be okay. Come summertime, she would worry about her disease. For now, she was going to worry about the last week and a half of school.  
  
It was ridiculously easy to get there. Mark thought that school was of the utmost importance, and besides, he didn't know anything was really wrong with her. When she had returned from the hospital, one of the first things he'd said to her was. "If you're well enough to be out of the hospital and walking around, you're well enough to go to school." That was Mark for you. He wasn't her dad, but he was a decent enough guy. Emma probably hadn't appreciated him and his calming influence on her mother enough.  
  
As for Stephanie, she certainly wasn't preventing Emma from going to school; she was still in denial that a problem existed. Kristen probably thought she was loony for being so eager to finish her junior year, but it was something Emma really felt she had to do. Dr. Nelson hadn't seemed to think she would keel over within the next couple of weeks, and so it was something she had control over, something she could finish. Heaven knew that there was going to be a lot she wasn't going to get to finish.  
  
In a lot of ways, school was great. When she arrived at her locker Wednesday, the day after she'd been released, she'd practically been ambushed by Raquel and some girls from choir. It was nice to know that she was loved and missed.  
  
But, as Raquel pointed out: "Chorus just isn't the same without you, Ella. Instead of your golden tones, we have my screeches."  
  
Emma shook her head. "Quel, you are just too much."  
  
"You know it!" Raquel shook out her raven black waves and struck a pose, causing Emma and the other choir girls to laugh. It felt so good to be back in school.  
  
The girls were walking down the hall towards their classes when the inevitable happened, she saw Max.  
  
"Quel, I'll catch up, I need to go to the bathroom," she said, and ducked in before Raquel could even notice what was going on.  
  
"Baby," Emma berated herself, once she was inside. She hated being so childish and avoiding Max like this. The sooner she broke it off with him, the better. It would hurt, but then she wouldn't feel guilty for leading him on.  
  
Of course, she reminded herself, there was Raquel too. She really shouldn't lead her best friend on any more than Max. The thing was, Raquel she could probably drop more slowly, by just hanging out with her less. That wouldn't work with Max; he was too damn perceptive.  
  
If she could only tell Max and Quel about her condition . . . but it was bad enough that Kristen knew. She couldn't break her promise any more than she already had. Still, that gave her a pretty lame reason for breaking up with Max.  
  
A couple of minutes later, when she was sure it was clear, Emma sneaked out of the bathroom and went to class.  
  
She avoided Max all day. She knew it was immature, knew she needed to talk to him, but school wasn't a good place to talk. Maybe he won't notice, she thought hopefully, and everything seemed to be going well as she pulled her books out of her locker at the end of the day.  
  
"Emma."  
  
Emma shivered at Max's voice. It wasn't what he said so much as how he said it, sort of mad, and yet disappointed. She slowly turned to look at him.  
  
"You've been avoiding me. Why?"  
  
Max's eyes were a forest green and right now she felt as though she was drowning in them. Felt as though she had fallen into a bottomless abyss.  
  
"Today's been busy up the wahzoo," she said shakily, "I mean, I did miss three days of school, and I needed to talk to my teachers about the tests and things I missed . . ."  
  
"Emma," he shook his head, "I'm not dumb."  
  
"Oh Max, I know you're not," it came out in a sigh, "I just . . . I need to talk to you, but not now. It's too crowded. Can we talk later?"  
  
Max tilted his head to the side as if trying to read her mind. "When? Where?" he asked shortly.  
  
Emma closed her eyes. "Tonight, at the swing set in the park. Maybe about 7:30?"  
  
"I'll be there," he said, turned, and walked away.  
  
Emma sighed. He was mad, she could tell. And he wasn't going to like what she had to tell him that night any better.  
  
Emma got to the park a couple of minutes early and was almost relieved to see that Max hadn't arrived yet. After thinking about what she would tell him all afternoon, she still didn't know what to say. She dropped into one of the swings.  
  
Suddenly, Emma felt a soft finger trace a line down her neck. Emma screeched and jumped. When she turned, she saw Max. Of course, who else would touch her neck? For some bizarre reason, Max thought it was her best feature.  
  
"How did you sneak up on me like that?" she demanded, somewhat put off.  
  
"I'm a man of many secrets," he said, crossing his arms over his chest, "But that's not what we're here for. Talk."  
  
This was the moment she was dreading. "We . . . we need to break up," she managed to get out.  
  
Max's jaw dropped. "Whatever for?"  
  
"Max, you're not making this any easier," she found that if she tried to be angry, the words came out better, "Maybe this just isn't working out for me. Maybe I've just decided that I don't like you anymore."  
  
"That's crazy; we're soulmates," Max said, "We're meant to be together."  
  
"Soulmates don't exist," Emma said harshly, "That's just a fairy tale."  
  
"You always said your mom and dad were soulmates," Max pointed out.  
  
"In the hypothetical!" it was easier and easier to get mad, "You know I don't really believe in magic. It's fun. That's all; just fun that somebody with too much time on their hands made up."  
  
"Emma, soulmates do exist. Why do you think your mom is so crazy now?"  
  
Emma stopped short at that. "Why are you bringing my mom into this? She doesn't have anything to do with anything," she said sulkily.  
  
"I'll bet your mom and dad really were soulmates," Max was continuing, "I'll bet she wasn't crazy before your dad died. That's what happens when someone loses their soulmate."  
  
Emma snorted. "That's just crazy. People's soulmates would be dying every day. There aren't enough crazy people in the world to support that theory."  
  
"Not everybody is lucky enough to meet their soulmate," Max said, "If my soulmate lived in Tibet and I never met her, and she died, my life would always feel like it was missing something, but I wouldn't go crazy. But my soulmate is you, Emma, and I've met you and I love you. If you shove me away, it's quite possible I'll go crazy."  
  
"Well, you'd better start stocking up on crazy meds because we can't be together," Emma started to tell him.  
  
"Emma, I would do anything for you. I'd break every l . . . well, never mind, but believe me Emma . . ."  
  
"Max, I'm dying," she interrupted. Crap, she'd gone and done it again. She was darn horrible at keeping promises.  
  
Emma wasn't really sure how she had expected Max to react to her accidental confession. Maybe he would deny it, accuse her of lying, or even believe her and be shocked. But she certainly didn't expect what he actually did.  
  
"Dammit!" he swore, "Oh, God, I KNEW it! I knew something was wrong. That's why you were losing weight, but I brushed it off as a girl thing, and those stomach pains. They were keeping you up at night and, damn, I KNEW it."  
  
Emma stared at him. How did he know all that? He wasn't supposed to know . . . she hadn't told ANYONE! "Max," she said shakily, backing away, "You're scaring me."  
  
"Oh, Emma," Max was shaking his head, "You can't die, you're my soulmate. I'll fix it; I'll think of something. Whatever you want."  
  
"I want you to go away," Emma said, continuing to back up, "The best thing you can do is to just go away, forget this 'soulmate' business, and not tell anyone what I told you, not Quel, not anyone at school."  
  
The crushed look on Max's face was enough to break anyone's heart. "Emma."  
  
"No!" she insisted, and ran, ran as far away from her ex-boyfriend as she could, tears streaming down her face. 


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter 6  
  
Kristen Taylor had heard through the grapevine that Emma had broken up with Max Pine, and she was surprised. She wasn't surprised that Emma had broken up with Max. Knowing Emma's condition made that understandable for Kristen. She wasn't even surprised that she heard the news through the grapevine rather than from Emma herself. Emma and Kristen always kept their own business to themselves.  
  
No, what surprised Kristen was that a few days later, Emma's best friend, Raquel Samaniego had come up to Kristen and asked her what was going on. Considering that Kristen ran in an entirely different social circle, and had never really talked to Raquel before, was surprise in itself. But that meant that if Raquel was pumping Kristen, who didn't know much about Emma's personal life, for information, Raquel didn't know anything either. Emma was obviously keeping silent to everyone.  
  
That really wasn't healthy, in Kristen's opinion, but then again, Emma was unhealthy in general and it wasn't Kristen's business. Whatever Emma wanted to do with the rest of her life was her own prerogative, and Kristen would just deal with her own life.  
  
But Kristen got another surprise that afternoon.  
  
"Kristen Taylor!" a voice called from behind her as she walked out of school on Monday.  
  
Kristen turned around to see Emma's ex-boyfriend, Max Pine. She eyed him quizzically.  
  
"Are you talking to me?" she asked.  
  
"Yes," he said, and he led her out of the school building and a bit away. As soon as it was private, he turned to her.  
  
"Kristen, I need to know . . ."  
  
"I don't know anything about Emma," she interrupted, "I have no information; I don't know why she broke up with you. You're wasting your time."  
  
"What's wrong with her?"  
  
"Nothing's wrong with her," Kristen smoothly lied, a bit shaken up by Max's question. There was something about him that just unnerved her sometimes. She shook her head and turned to walk away.  
  
"I know she's dying."  
  
Kristen whirled back around to look at him, eyes wide. How on earth did he know that?  
  
"She told me that much," he amended, "and I know she didn't mean to; that she promised not to tell anyone. Please, what exactly is wrong with her?"  
  
Kristen relaxed. Of course Emma had let it slip. With as unstable as she was, that didn't surprise Kristen in the least. "How did you know I knew then?" she asked.  
  
"I was hoping. Then your body language gave it away that you did know something. Kristen, please, what's wrong with her?"  
  
Kristen considered his question. "Well, Emma promised she wouldn't tell anyone, but I didn't so I guess it's okay if I tell you. She has cancer. Pancreatic cancer. I don't know much else except that it's spread."  
  
Max closed his eyes. "Damn. She really is dying, then."  
  
"Apparently sometime this summer," Kristen added.  
  
Max ran a hand through his thick brown hair. "Thank you Kristen. You've helped at lot."  
  
As he quickly walked away, Kristen shook her head. He was bizarre, that Max Pine. He obviously cared for Emma more than anything, but he still was one bizarre character.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Max slammed the door of his house, glad that both his parents were out working. He needed time to himself to ponder what Emma's stepsister had told him.  
  
Max had always found medicine and the like to be incredibly fascinating. He was obsessed with medical shows and wanted to be a doctor when he grew up. He never could have enough knowledge.  
  
However, for the first time, he was beginning to think there was such a thing as too much knowledge. Because his medical background gave him a clear understanding of the gravity of Emma's condition. He knew that pancreatic cancer was one of the most deadly kinds of cancer and that once it had spread, it was basically hopeless.  
  
When Emma had let known that she was dying, he had been hoping that it was an exaggeration. That it was something bad, but something curable. That she just FELT like she was dying, and wanted Max away when she was going through treatments. But deep down, he knew that wasn't true. Once she had said that, he had known without a doubt that she was right. He had felt that something was off in Emma, something was there that was causing her pain. As long as she could brush it off, he found that he could too. But now . . .  
  
Emma was dying, without a doubt Emma was dying, and he was forced to face facts.  
  
He loved her. He wasn't supposed to, but he did, more than anything else. No matter what anyone would say or do, it didn't change that fact. She was his soulmate, and there was nothing more he wanted to do than spend eternity with her.  
  
But then this cancer came along, as a painful reminder that there was no way they could be together. Besides, it wasn't allowed, whether or not she was healthy. So perhaps this came at the right time. If he had no choice about Emma leaving, he wouldn't have to let go of this forbidden romance himself. He wouldn't dig himself in too deep . . .  
  
Scratch that, he was in too deep already.  
  
So he was left with Emma dying, and nothing he could do. Except . . .  
  
There was something, but it was just as illegal as their relationship in the first place. Plus, it was something he had never wanted to share with Emma, at least at this time. Emma had an innocent, naïve view of the world, as much as she would deny it, and he hadn't wanted to ruin that for her, at least for a couple of more years.  
  
But, desperate times called for desperate measures.  
  
Emma needed to know all her options, that was that. He would go find her that night, and give her the facts. If she didn't believe him, hated him, or just didn't want what he had to offer, then that was her choice. But he couldn't just sit around, when there was something that could possibly help her.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Emma looked at the letter in her hands in puzzlement. In less than a week, this was the second letter she had received from the One Last Wish Foundation. This was from the Richard Holloway who had signed her check and it was an invitation to spend the summer at some place called 'Jenny House' in North Carolina.  
  
This was getting ridiculous. At first she'd thought it was weird that these people knew about her. But now that she was looking at this second letter, she was thinking it less and less. Because obviously they knew next to nothing about her. Firstly, they gave her an obscenely large amount of money that she had nothing to do with. Now they were inviting her to stay someplace for the summer. Didn't they know she wasn't going to be around the whole summer? So why would she want to go away?  
  
These people needed to get their heads screwed on better, Emma decided.  
  
She gave a little laugh just as Mark and Kristen were walking into the room. Kristen gave her a weird look, but went to the refrigerator and pulled out a pop rather than saying anything. Stephanie, who was sitting at the table going through the rest of the mail, looked up at Emma's laugh.  
  
"Something funny, Emma?" Mark asked, coming over and looking over her shoulder. Emma tried to snatch her newest letter away, but it was too late, Mark had already seen it.  
  
"You've been invited to a camp in North Carolina for the summer?" he asked, "That's wonderful! You'll have quite an experience, I'm sure."  
  
"I'm not going," Emma informed him, "I can't go away this summer. It's a mistake."  
  
"Why not?" Mark was looking at the letter again, "What is this One Last Wish Foundation mentioned in this invitation?"  
  
Sometimes Emma wondered that too. "As far as I can gather," she said slowly, "it's an organization that donates money to terminally ill kids."  
  
Mark frowned, his brows furrowing. "You're right. A mistake has been made. You're healthy as a horse."  
  
Stephanie seemed somewhat oblivious to everything, but at Mark's words she laughed.  
  
"That's so silly!" she laughed, her dark eyes sparkling, "Emma, sick? That could never happen! Of course she's healthy!"  
  
Kristen, who had been sitting peacefully by this time, smacked her hand down on the table and stood up in one fell swoop. "Stephanie, stop it," she said forcefully, "Emma's got enough hanging over her head, she doesn't need to deal with anymore. Would you please act like a grown-up for once?"  
  
Mark looked appalled. "Kristen Marie! That was uncalled for!"  
  
"Mark," Stephanie said, "Whatever is going on is between Kristen and myself. I can handle it." She turned to Kristen. "I'm not sure I understand what you're insinuating."  
  
"I mean this secrecy. It's giving me enough of a headache; I'm sure it's much worse for Emma. So would you please snap out of your funk and act like a mother?"  
  
"Secrecy? We don't keep secrets in this house . . ."  
  
"Stephanie, I know Emma's dying. You can just . . . stop, okay?" Kristen was shaking her head. Mark was looking from Kristen to Stephanie to Emma incredulously, "I know what she's got and I know how bad it is. Just because you're having a major case of denial doesn't mean we have to hide it from the rest of the world. I want things in the open."  
  
"I do too," Emma said quietly.  
  
"Let me get this straight. You're . . . dying?" Mark asked Emma, "What on earth's wrong with you?"  
  
She nodded. "I have cancer." Somehow, it felt good to say those words without having to worry about breaking a promise. It was like a sense of relief had washed over her.  
  
"Stephanie, you didn't tell me about this? Why isn't she in the hospital, getting treated? Why is she at home?" Mark seemed genuinely concerned and angry.  
  
"It's spread. There's nothing anyone can do," Emma said, "Mark, don't blame her. I understand where she's coming from."  
  
"Then this letter, it's for real?"  
  
Emma nodded. "When I was in the hospital, I also received a check from them."  
  
Mark had finally sat down, shaking his head. "I just don't believe this. Emma, I'm so sorry, I don't know what to say."  
  
Emma had tears streaming down her face. It seemed like she was crying an over amount lately. "You don't need to say anything," she said, "I think I've dealt with things. I'm going to die this summer and I have no other choice. I've HAD to deal. Just . . . not everybody has to know, people at school or whatnot, but I would prefer if Sean and Michael had some idea of what was going on. If there's a way to break it gently, please do. Right now, I think I need to rest. I'm going to take a nap."  
  
And with that, Emma went upstairs to her and Kristen's room, crawled into bed, and fell into a deep and dreamless sleep. 


	7. Chapter Seven

First of all, thanks to Sarah and hersheybar for reviewing. This story would not come out nearly as fast without all the lovely feedback I get.  
  
On that note, I don't know how many loyal readers I actually have, but I expect I might be losing some after this chapter. Let's just say the crossover I've mentioned several times comes out full swing, and the story takes a major twist, and I don't know how some people are going to feel about that. Then again, people may like it. Who knows?  
  
Chapter 7  
  
Emma woke up around 1AM and saw Kristen sleeping soundly on the other side of the room. Careful not to disturb her, Emma sat up quietly. On her bedside table, she saw a white piece of paper. If it's from the One Last Wish Foundation again, she thought, I'm gonna scream.  
  
Fortunately, it wasn't. It was just a short sweet note that read:  
  
Emmykins,  
  
We're here for you, okay?  
  
Sean and Michael  
  
Emma smiled, laying the note back where she found it. So they knew. Well, at least she wouldn't have to worry about her family anymore. Keeping her illness from the people at school she could do, but hiding it from the people she lived with had been hard. Emma was eternally grateful to her stepsister for helping get things out in the open.  
  
Suddenly, Emma felt the urge to go downstairs at that very minute. She didn't know why, but she knew it was imperative that she go to the kitchen.  
  
Well, she was hungry anyway, having slept through dinner. No biggie.  
  
As quietly as she could, Emma crept through the dark hallways and headed downstairs into the kitchen. Once there, she pulled some Oreos out of a cabinet. One thing about dying, she reflected, was that you no longer had to worry about eating healthy.  
  
At that moment, a hand clasped over her arm. Before she could scream, another one covered her mouth. Emma started struggling, but it was useless against the iron grip that was holding her captive.  
  
"If you stop struggling and promise not to scream, I'll let you free," came the whispered voice of Max Pine. Emma immediately stopped struggling, and Max let her go. She whirled around to face him.  
  
"What is the meaning of this?" she whispered harshly, "I broke up with you! You have no right to be breaking into my house at night!" She ignored the fact that he had assumed she would come into the kitchen. There were too many unexplainable things about Max sometimes, and it was easier to focus on the present situation rather than how it came to be.  
  
"I need to talk to you," he whispered back.  
  
"Too bad," she said. She started to brush past him, but was stopped by his question.  
  
"Do you want to die?"  
  
She turned to face him. "What kind of stupid question is that? Of course I don't want to die. But I don't have a choice, now do I? Now if you'll excuse me, I have better things to do than talk to my ex-boyfriend in my kitchen at one in the morning." Again, her plan to escape was thwarted.  
  
"Actually, you do."  
  
"I do what?" she asked him in confusion. Why did he have to be so cryptic all the time?  
  
"You have a choice."  
  
Emma rolled her eyes. "Listen Max, I think you missed the telegram. I'm dying this summer. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it."  
  
"I'm being serious. You do have a choice and if you'll just listen to me for one minute . . ."  
  
Emma crossed her arms over her chest, shifting the bag of Oreos. "And what is this wonderful choice you have to offer me, huh?"  
  
Max shifted his gaze. "Outside. I don't want to chance anyone in your family waking up."  
  
Emma sighed, but followed him out into the yard. A normal girl would have wondered about the sanity of following her ex-boyfriend, whom she'd found in her kitchen at 1AM, outside and away from her family, holding a bag of Oreos. However, no matter how weird the situation, Emma felt perfectly safe with Max. Somewhat annoyed, but perfectly safe.  
  
"Would it be too much to ask for a straight answer out of you?" she asked impatiently, "I have better things to do with the time I have left on earth than to try to decode the cryptic clues you drop."  
  
"You may have more time than you think," Max said.  
  
"Again with the ambiguity . . ." Emma began, but Max cut her off.  
  
"Emma, please. You have no idea how hard this is for me. You have no idea what a risk it is for me to even suggest what I'm going to tell you. Just let me do this at my own pace."  
  
Emma closed her mouth. She pulled out an Oreo and took a bite. "Fine, go ahead. I'm listening."  
  
"You think that you only have one choice, right? That choice being that you let this cancer take its course and die over the summer, right?"  
  
"I never told you I had cancer," Emma said, a bit freaked out, "There could be any number of things wrong with me."  
  
"Yeah, there could, but I actually had a little chat with your stepsister after school, so I know the basic facts."  
  
That must have been why Kristen was late getting home after school. Emma nodded, accepting Max's explanation.  
  
"Well, you have another choice, and let it be known, I never would have suggested it to you at this time, possibly never, if the situation wasn't what it was. Had there been any other option, I wouldn't have suggested anything. But since you seem to be stuck between a rock and a hard place, you need an alternative. That's what I'm offering."  
  
"So, whatever it is you're offering is a last resort," Emma said.  
  
Max nodded. "If chemotherapy or radiation therapy had a chance, this never would have been offered. It's important that you know the only reason I'm telling you about this is because modern medicine can't do anything."  
  
"Sure, I understand, but why is this option such a last resort type of deal?"  
  
"Well, for one, it's illegal."  
  
"Goody. I haven't really lived if I don't manage to get a criminal record before I die."  
  
Max shot her a look. "For the record, the fact that I'm absolutely in love with you is illegal, too."  
  
That made Emma laugh. "I know your parents don't really like me, but that's a bit far fetched. However, since we're not dating anymore, I guess you don't have to worry."  
  
"We're getting off-topic," Max said tersely.  
  
"Then by all means, let's get back on." This bantering, this camaraderie, and how it all fit together like destiny . . . this was why she'd fallen in love with Max in the first place. She missed him, really she did.  
  
"As with any choice, there are pros and cons. The most important thing is that you'll be alive."  
  
"That is a good thing," Emma agreed, wondering what the heck Max was offering her.  
  
"But you'll not only be alive, you'll never get sick again. And I'm not just talking about cancer. I mean colds, flu, pinkeye, everything. You'll be immune. Plus you'll be stronger and faster than you've ever been. Your eyesight will be better than it is now."  
  
"Are you going to dip me in some experimental chemical?" Emma laughed, but the look on Max's face made her stop, "Continue on, Maxwell."  
  
"We'll be able to be together. Forever. You'll be immortal. At least, if neither of us has an accident; that's something you won't be immune to."  
  
"Good, I was afraid I was going to end up perfect there for a minute," Emma teased.  
  
"Oh no, there are plenty of cons, too," Max was continuing, "You'll never be able to have kids."  
  
"I think I lost that privilege already," Emma reminded him.  
  
"But you'll lose your chance to possibly be reincarnated into a new healthy body where you could have kids. However, there's no guarantee that you would be someone who reincarnates."  
  
"I'm Catholic, I'm not supposed to believe in reincarnation anyway," she told him, "Besides, if I was reborn in the future, I wouldn't be with YOU."  
  
"Glad you think so highly of me, considering you told me to get lost less than a week ago," Max said wryly, "Anyway, you'd also stop aging once you die. Oh yeah, you have to die before you can live forever."  
  
"There's always that darn catch," Emma smiled wanly. Max had gone completely loopy, she decided. She wished he would just get to the point already  
  
"You'd never be able to see your family and friends again, because they would all think that you were dead."  
  
Yes, she was definitely ready for this conversation to end. It was getting beyond ridiculous.  
  
"And then there's the blood involved."  
  
"Max, the sight of blood doesn't bother me. You know that."  
  
"Well, yes, but . . ."  
  
"Will you please just get to the point of this miracle cure? I'm tired and I want to go to bed," she snapped.  
  
"I . . . you have no idea how hard this is, Emma. I have no idea as to how you're going to react and I just want to give you all the facts before you close you mind to the idea and . . ." at Emma's look, he sighed, "Alright, here goes. What I'm saying is that your choice, but only if you want it of course, um, is for me to, well . . . to turn you into a vampire." 


	8. Chapter Eight

Well, since now I've crossed over, as promised, I will be explaining all the nuances of the crossover for those who have never read Night World, so you aren't confused. Sorry this chapter took so long; I've been busy up the wahzoo (ugh, not fun).  
  
Thank you, bella, for reviewing. Somebody likes my crossover! Yay!  
  
This chapter gave me Oreo cravings.  
  
Chapter 8  
  
Emma stared at him for a moment. "First of all, Maxwell Jude Pine, you know I don't believe in magic. So where you got the idea that I'd enjoy this kind of joke . . . I don't even know. Secondly, if you WERE going to turn me into a vampire . . . that would mean you . . ."  
  
"I'm a vampire, yes," Max swiftly responded.  
  
"Which is entirely not possible," Emma continued, "I mean, we may have only been going out for a few weeks, but I did go to junior high with you and you've gotten older."  
  
"I'm lamia," Max explained. At Emma's puzzled look, he continued, "I was born that way. I can age and have kids, just the same as a human, but I could stop aging if I wanted to."  
  
Emma was shaking her head again. "No. This has got to be a dream. There is no possible way I could be standing in my yard at 1:30 in the morning with my ex-boyfriend, who just HAPPENS to be a vampire, and a bag of Oreos. I mean, think of the implications if this was actually real."  
  
"You're more like your mom than you think, you know," Max said wryly, "But if it would help, I can take the Oreos away."  
  
Emma suddenly looked at the Oreos, as if actually realizing they were there. "Hey. You eat these! Therefore, you CAN'T be a vampire, unless all of a sudden vampires are sucking the cream out of Oreos."  
  
"I can eat human food if I want to," Max said, "It just does me no good. In order to survive I need blood."  
  
Emma was still shaking her head. "But . . . no. You can't be a vampire. I KNOW you. I mean . . . I . . ."  
  
Max sighed. "Emma, look at me."  
  
Emma stopped babbling long enough to look at Max. And when she did, her heart nearly stopped. Emma inched back until she hit her front porch, which she plopped down on.  
  
"Holy shit!" she whispered, "You're a vampire!"  
  
Because that wasn't the Max she knew and loved standing before her. This Max had an absolute predatory look in his green eyes and two sharp fangs curving from his mouth. This Max was dangerous . . . lethal, and she'd entrusted her safety to him.  
  
"Yes, I'm sorry. Do you see why I didn't want to tell you?"  
  
"Well, yeah. So then why ARE you telling me?" Emma couldn't think straight at the moment.  
  
"Because you're dying," Max said simply.  
  
Oh. For the first time since she'd learned about it, Emma had forgotten that she had cancer. This was the first time she'd stopped thinking about it for any amount of time.  
  
"And you could stop thinking about it forever," Max said, reading her mind, "Because if you became a vampire, you wouldn't have cancer any more. Ever."  
  
"You said something about something being illegal?" Emma questioned, "I'm not understanding that part."  
  
"Well, there's this thing called the Night World," Max told her, "It's basically a secret society of vampires, witches, and shapeshifters. It has two major rules, which are never to let a human know the Night World exists and to never fall in love with a human. These laws are what are supposed to keep us secret, so humans don't start reorganizing witch hunts and the like. They're to keep us safe. Changing a human into a vampire would be breaking the first rule, and if the human can't keep it secret, it could all be over for us. At least, I'm guessing that's the reasoning for there to also be a law against turning humans into vampires. But considering that I've already broken both of the cardinal rules, it can't hurt me any more to break another. The catch is that you would be in as much trouble as me if we were to get caught."  
  
"A vampire fugitive," Emma giggled nervously.  
  
"Basically. But there's another organization, Circle Daybreak. They think that humans and the rest of us can live in peace. A little too nice for my taste, but they would hopefully be able to protect us if we asked."  
  
"To think all this was going on and I had absolutely no clue," Emma was shaking her head. Now that the initial shock was over, she was finding she could accept things better. I have cancer. I'm dying. My ex-boyfriend is a vampire. He wants to save me by making me like him . . . okay.  
  
"There's always a slight possibility you won't make it through the change, but I bet you will. And a slight chance of dying is better than a complete chance of dying, right? And . . ."  
  
"Wait a second. I never agreed to anything," Emma broke in.  
  
"Well, I just assumed."  
  
"Don't just assume anything, Maxwell Jude. I've just been given two choices: die from cancer, or illegally become a vampire. I can't make a decision like that right away. Give me a couple of days to think about it, at least," Emma said.  
  
Max looked crestfallen. "Whatever you say," he said sadly, "But do give me a call if you want to know anything more. I'll be happy to answer any questions."  
  
Emma nodded, and with that Max walked away into the night.  
  
Emma went back up to bed, but found that she couldn't sleep. She had an out. And while it wasn't the out she'd envisioned for herself, it was still an out.  
  
Max had mentioned a whole world. There was a whole world out there of vampires and other things. She would never have guessed that Max was a vampire. In her safe world, magic didn't exist. But if Max was a vampire . . . why, anyone could be. Kristen could be one. Emma looked over at her slumbering stepsister. Well, except no. Max said that vampires weren't allowed to fall in love with humans, and so if Mark, Sean, Kristen and Michael were vampires, Mark wouldn't have been able to marry Stephanie.  
  
Honestly, what did she have to lose? She didn't want to die. She had thought that she was ready to die, until all of a sudden this came along. Now she knew that she wasn't.  
  
I'll have to find out more, she thought, and finally drifted off in a fitful sleep, filled with dreams containing cancer . . . and blood.  
  
The first thing next morning, Emma called Max.  
  
"Hello?" he said.  
  
"Wood?" she replied, "Daylight? Garlic? Holy Water? Running water? Changing into a bat? Reflections? Thresholds? Souls?"  
  
Max laughed, realizing what she was asking.  
  
"Wood is deadly," he explained, "A stake to the heart will kill a vampire, but even one that's misplaced may end up killing us because of wood poisoning. Garlic and holy water don't have an effect one way or another on us. You've seen me cross running water, and you've seen my reflection and you KNOW that I walk around during the day. Vampires can go into dwellings without an invitation, contrary to popular myth, and as far as I know, there aren't any vampires strong enough to shape shift. We leave that to the shapeshifters. And I would like to think I have a soul. It would kind of be hard for me to have a soulmate if I didn't. Basically, human myth is full of mistakes where vampires are concerned."  
  
Emma nodded. Okay, that was better than she'd expected. "You said something last night about me never getting sick again," Emma said, "Explain that, please."  
  
"Well, it's like this. Vampire blood is the ultimate elixir. It heals any disease, and if you get injured with anything other than wood, you heal incredibly fast. The stuff's potent. But there's only one thing it can't do. Carry oxygen."  
  
A light went off in Emma's head. "So that's why . . ."  
  
"Yep. That's why we need to drink human blood; to get oxygen in our bloodstreams. But the thing is that our vampire blood fights it off like a disease. That's why we need to drink blood every day. It's not like being hungry; you go into bloodlust and it's like suffocating."  
  
"You make it almost sound natural," Emma marveled.  
  
"Well, not quite. It's not necessarily a picnic, but if you compare it to the alternative . . ."  
  
This sounds like a bad visualization technique, she thought. Imagine you find out you're dying . . . how does that change everything? And then imagine you've been given a large sum of money from an anonymous benefactor. How does that change everything? And imagine still there's a world alongside your own filled with the creatures of myths. Then how does that change everything?  
  
But it did change everything. Even more so than the money. Because the secret world, the Night World, Max had called it, could be her key to salvation.  
  
"If this blood's so powerful, couldn't you just give me a little and have it heal me?"  
  
"Maybe if you had the flu. But you have cancer. It's all or nothing."  
  
And that was that. All or nothing. "Okay," Emma said finally, "I'll do it."  
  
After all, what did she really have to lose?  
  
"The biggest problem I'm seeing is the logistics," she added practically, "If I go downhill, my family's going to go crazy-overprotective. I need to find a way that I can get away from them with them not suspecting anything."  
  
And then she had it.  
  
"Max, I have a secret, too," she confessed, "Though it's nowhere near the magnitude of yours." And with that, she told him about the One Last Wish money and the invitation to Jenny House. "I thought it was crazy, because I wasn't going to be alive the whole summer. But maybe I could convince them to let me come for a shortened time . . . would you be able to come down to North Carolina?"  
  
"Of course, Emma. Anything for you," Max said, "And I know what you could do with the money, too. If you gave, I don't know, half of it to me, I could use it to set up a new account for you once you die. You would have money to start out your new life with."  
  
Somehow Emma doubted that her benefactor intended for her money to be used as a starter kit for her undead life, but Max's reasoning was sound. And if her one last wish was to become a vampire, who could argue?  
  
That night, she tried to persuade Mark and Stephanie to let her go to Jenny House.  
  
"I think it would be good for me," she said, "I know I always feel like I'm alone, and if I went someplace where there were other sick kids, it would help me come to terms with things. I would truly realize I'm not alone. I know I won't be here much longer. I thought maybe they could give me a shorter session or something."  
  
When they got Richard Holloway on the phone, he was very understanding. "Usually we want our guests to stay the full summer, but under those circumstances, I can understand why you'd want it otherwise. Why don't we take her for three weeks, and of course we'll send her home straight away if anything starts to go wrong."  
  
Mark had been a little leery, but Richard Holloway's words had comforted him. That meant it was settled, Emma thought with satisfaction. She was going to go to a camp for sick kids in North Carolina . . . and was going to come out a vampire. 


	9. Chapter Nine

Note ~ Ahh! I did not mean to keep everybody waiting so long for the next chapter. I have been uber busy, and this chapter didn't like me very much. If it helps, it's a bit longer than usual. And also, I'm getting to the whole Jenny House part and I may bring in some of the old characters with guest appearances. So there will probably be spoilers in the chapters ahead, just in case you haven't read the Jenny House part of the One Last Wish series. Anyway . . .  
  
Mrs. B ~ I'm sorry you don't like the vampires, but I did have several warnings about a crossover and even gave the series name and the author. There was nothing else I COULD do unless I wanted to ruin any surprise this story had. The vampires are staying, but I will change the genre to drama/supernatural now that the surprise is over. Will that help at all?  
  
Sky-bleww ~ Oh my goodness! Such high praise! I really honestly don't know what to say but thank you! You've made my day!  
  
Kristen ~ Thank you! I'm glad you like my story.  
  
And now here it is . . .  
  
Chapter 9  
  
Now that plans had been settled, the next week was spent finishing school and packing for Emma's three week stint at camp. The plan was that the whole family would drive down to North Carolina from Chicago. Emma would have protested them doing all that for her, but knowing that she would never see them again made her be quiet about it.  
  
Her last final was physics, and her family was leaving later that afternoon. At that moment, Emma wasn't thinking that far ahead. She was hugging Raquel goodbye.  
  
"Camp for three weeks, you're the lucky one again," Raquel told her, "I'll miss you, you know. You'd better write to me."  
  
"You know I will," Emma told her, looking at her best friend carefully. It was just dawning on her that she would probably never see Raquel again and she wanted to remember every detail of the Ecuadorian beauty, from her dark sparkling eyes to her pitch black tresses.  
  
"Raquel?" she ventured, "This might sound a little weird right now, but I just want you to know that you're my best friend in the entire world. I could never forget you."  
  
"Me neither, Ella. I'll see you in three weeks, okay?"  
  
Emma gave a wan smile, unable to lie to Raquel, but unable to tell her the truth.  
  
Max came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "I'll be seeing you," he whispered in her ear.  
  
"I know," she whispered back.  
  
"My cue to exit," Raquel grinned as she waved to Emma and Max.  
  
Emma stifled a sob as Raquel disappeared from view. "Things are going to be so much different."  
  
"You're a strong girl, Emma. You'll make it."  
  
But as Emma headed home to make the drive to North Carolina, she didn't feel strong. She felt like a scared little girl. What am I doing? she thought. She knew that in reality, she was only doing what she could do in a situation like this. She just hoped that she was making the right decision.  
  
Michael insisted on sitting next to her in the van and insisted that she play magnetic chess with him. Neither one of them was especially good at the game, and kept making stupid mistakes, which Sean, who was sitting behind them, felt free to point out.  
  
"Look, Mike, her queen's unguarded. Get it and you'll have checkmate."  
  
Michael grinned and followed Sean's advice. "I win."  
  
"Congratulations," she told him sincerely.  
  
Before she could blink, Michael had wrapped his arms around her in a big hug. "Emma, you're such a nice stepsister. I'm going to miss you!"  
  
Emma looked down at Michael's brown head. Poor kid, to be only ten and to have to deal with all this. Emma realized with a pang how much her stepfamily meant to her. "I'm going to miss you too," she told him, hugging him back.  
  
The family made an overnight stop in Frankfurt, Kentucky, and got up bright and early the next morning to finish the trip to Jenny House. Although they nearly got lost trying to find the exit, once they reached their destination, Emma had to admit it was impressive. The main building was big and spacious, and looked like a resort. This is the last place I'm going to see as a human, she thought with a sense of awe.  
  
Everyone was checking in inside the main lobby, and that's where Richard Holloway met them.  
  
"I'm Emma Kinney. I'm here for three weeks," she told him.  
  
"That's right," he told her, "You'll be sharing a room with three other girls. Susanna, your big sister, is already there of course, and I think the other girls are too." After giving them directions, the family traipsed upstairs.  
  
They were met by a girl who had a sleek cap of short, black hair. "Ah, here's our last boarder. Now we can all start to get to know each other."  
  
Emma directed Mark and Sean to dump her bags on the last empty bed and gave everyone in her family a hug. Even Kristen.  
  
"I'll miss you," she said as she hugged her mother extra tight. Stephanie may have been slightly crazy, but that didn't mean Emma loved her any less. The last remaining member of my family, Emma thought, and I'm never going to see her again.  
  
"I'll see you in three weeks, Emma. Have fun," her mom said, kissing Emma on the forehead. Emma choked back a sob as her family disappeared from view.  
  
"Three weeks?" questioned one of the other boarders, a blonde girl sitting on the bed next to Emma's.  
  
"Yes, due to circumstances, I'm only here for a short time," said Emma, "But I wanted to come."  
  
"You must be Emmanuelle Kinney, then," said the girl who had greeted them.  
  
"Emma will do," Emma said.  
  
"Emma, okay," she smiled, "Well, I'm Susanna Chen, and I'll kind of be like a big sister to you girls this summer. I'm nineteen, and I'm in remission for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. I'm sure my other cancer victim can help explain." With that, she looked almost expectantly at Emma.  
  
"What are you looking at me for? The only kind of cancer I know anything about is metastatic pancreatic cancer, and trust me, I know WAY too much about that."  
  
"I thought only old people got pancreatic cancer," said a young looking African-American girl.  
  
"I guess I'm the exception then," Emma said, "Wait, if you two don't have cancer, then what're you in here for?"  
  
The girl who made the remark about Emma's pancreatic cancer was the first to reply.  
  
"I have a disease called sickle cell anemia. It's a blood disease; basically if something goes wrong, my red blood cells change shape and it's not fun," she grimaced, "Anyway, I was born with it, so I'm used to dealing with it and all."  
  
"How old are you?" Emma asked curiously.  
  
"Thirteen. And my name's Adora Foster," she added, "Just for reference."  
  
"Like She-Ra. That should be easy to remember," said Emma. She turned to the blonde girl on the bed, "And you?"  
  
"Courtney Graczyc," she said, "I'm sixteen and I have kidney disease."  
  
"You're waiting to go on the beeper aren't you?" Susanna asked gently.  
  
Courtney nodded.  
  
"What's a beeper?" Emma asked in confusion.  
  
"It means that I'll be able to have a kidney transplant. Mine are dying on me."  
  
"Well, I'd give you one of mine, but I'm sure mine are even more bum than yours," Emma said.  
  
"It's okay, I'm sure another one will come along," Courtney said with a smile.  
  
"Well, now that we know each others names, why don't we go more in depth?" said Susanna, sitting cross legged on her bed.  
  
"Why?" Emma asked shortly. Yeah, the other girls seemed nice enough to stay with for these three weeks, but she didn't want anyone getting too close to her; it might ruin her secret plan. Besides, they all seemed so . . . cheery. It was almost too much.  
  
"Mr. Holloway put me up to it," Susanna said, "So why don't you just grin and bear the torture so I can honestly tell him I followed his orders on this ice-breaker thing."  
  
Now it was Emma's turn to break into a smile. So there was more to Susanna than all the sweetness and light.  
  
"We're supposed to tell three truths and one lie about ourselves, and then the others have to guess what the lie is."  
  
"Sounds simple enough," said Courtney.  
  
"I'll start," said Susanna, "I'm an only child, I'm more fondly referred to as Susie, I was diagnosed with my cancer when I was fifteen and right now I'm attending college and majoring in paleontology."  
  
"You mean working with dinosaur bones?" asked Adora in awe.  
  
"Well, any fossil remains, but yes, dinosaur bones works."  
  
"That one is a little out there," mused Courtney, "especially compared to the others. And I know how much school you miss when you're sick. I'm going to have to say that one."  
  
Adora agreed.  
  
"Are you kidding?" said Emma, "You haven't been watching what she's doing well enough. She's totally the kind of person that would kick your butt if you called her Susie."  
  
"So what is it?" asked Courtney.  
  
"Emma's got it," she said, "And that's a fair warning. NEVER call me Susie. It's Susanna."  
  
This was almost fun, Emma thought. "You go next, She-Ra," she nudged Adora.  
  
"Why do you keep calling me that?" Adora asked in confusion.  
  
"You're probably too young to know," Susanna said, "She-Ra was a cartoon in the '80s. She was He-Man's sister. And her real name was Adora."  
  
"She rocked," Emma added.  
  
Adora smiled. "That's cool. Well, I like peanuts, I like bananas, I like tofu and I like zucchini."  
  
"You're TRYING to make things difficult," Emma pouted.  
  
Adora shrugged. "Whatever works."  
  
"That is a tough one," said Susanna, "All of those are things that different people dislike. I would have to guess it's tofu, then."  
  
"Yeah, tofu," agreed Courtney.  
  
Emma shrugged. "Why not?"  
  
"Actually, I'm allergic to peanuts," Adora told them.  
  
"Gah, that figures," said Emma.  
  
"Can I go next?" Courtney asked cheerily.  
  
"Why not?" Emma replied.  
  
"Okay. I have two older brothers, I used to take ballet classes when I was 5, my dad wanted to name me Rhonda and I got my wisdom teeth pulled last summer."  
  
"Rhonda Graczyc? Maybe it's better they decided to go with Courtney," laughed Susanna.  
  
Emma looked at her. "You don't have two older brothers," she said.  
  
"You think? It was kind of early for her to get her wisdom teeth pulled," Susanna said.  
  
"Positive."  
  
"And you're right," Courtney sighed, "I only have one older brother."  
  
"Your turn, Emma," Susanna told her.  
  
"I'm all set," she said, smiling, "I won first place in a choral competition last year, my favorite color is blue, I was born on Christmas and I'm part Mexican."  
  
"The Christmas thing is probably true," said Susanna, "Her name IS Emmanuelle."  
  
"Tricky," Courtney continued, "But she doesn't really seem Mexican either. I guess I'd have to go with that."  
  
"But that's just the kind of thing she'd use to trick us," said Adora practically, "And I'll bet she can sing. So my vote goes that your favorite color is NOT blue."  
  
"Right on, She-Ra. My favorite color is orange," Emma smiled, "I did win a prize for chorus, my birthday is Christmas, and my mom's dad, my grandpa Merlo, was from Mexico."  
  
"I would have never guessed that if you hadn't told us," said Courtney, "You don't seem Mexican."  
  
Emma shrugged. "In some ways, I'm not. It was hard for my mom when she was a kid. She was the only one in her neighborhood who was half Mexican, the only one whose dad was an immigrant. So I guess she didn't think it was that important to pass that heritage on to me. She used to sing me lullabies in Spanish back when my dad was still alive, but after he died, it all kind of just stopped. I can't even speak Spanish myself. I guess that's one thing I regret. If I could have done it over again, I would have tried to pursue my Mexican heritage more."  
  
Of course, now she DID have the chance to do it over again. Looking at her roommates, Emma made a promise to herself that once she was used to the whole vampire thing, she would learn Spanish and embrace her heritage. For now, until Max arrived, she would have fun with these girls who weren't too bad after all. 


	10. Chapter Ten

**SPOILERS!!** Reach for Tomorrow spoilers. If you don't want to be spoiled, don't read this. There, now I don't want any complaining that I didn't warn you. Sorry this chapter took so long. It was crazy with the holiday weekend, ya know?  
  
Mrs. B. ~ Thanks for the nice praise. You seem to have done a 180, which is great. I'm glad you like it!  
  
herseybar ~ Hey, I was wondering where you'd gone to. I'm glad to have you back.  
  
sky-bleww ~ Thanks for your reviews, both on this story and my other one. If I do anymore songfics, it won't be for a long while. I have something else in the works, as you can see.  
  
Erriy ~ Hi. Do you feel better now? Now I have a couple of comments for you. "That thing with the vampires is nasty." Nasty how? Gross nasty or mean nasty? That doesn't even make any sense. "The story was good before all that crap." Aww, thankee kindly, ma'am. "you write about it like you know everything about it." Why do I feel like I need the word 'crossover' tattooed on my forehead? Of course I'm writing like I know all about it. I took the particular myth that L.J. Smith used in her Night World series to write this. All the information was there for me to use. "vampeires are just made up." So is Jenny House. Besides, LM uses lots of vampire references in her stories. Her characters are constantly getting blood transfusions and going, "This must be what it's like to be a vampire." I decided to take that and make vampires real in this story. Artistic license. "and they ain't Godly either." When did I ever claim to be Godly? I really don't care that you don't like my story . . . you don't have to read it. At any rate, I found your review amusing.  
  
All right. Here is the very late Chapter 10.  
  
Chapter 10  
  
They were out trail riding a few days later when it happened.  
  
The fun has arrived. Miss me? Emma heard in her head.  
  
Max, Emma thought with delight, reining in her horse for a moment. She wondered if she'd be able to telepath back to him.  
  
I can hear you loud and clear, Emmykins Max replied. Meet me later, okay  
  
But how would she know where he was?  
  
I'll let you know. Trust me, babe.  
  
"Emma! Are you asleep?" Courtney had turned her horse around and gone back in the trail to where Emma had stopped.  
  
"Oh, sorry," Emma said smiling, "Got a bit distracted there. Dreaming of handsome boys," she added to Courtney's quizzical look.  
  
"Good, I was afraid that maybe you'd gotten sick."  
  
Emma had thought she would explain a bit more about her illness over the past couple of days. That way, everyone wouldn't be quite so shocked when she "died." Courtney, however, was now fussing over her, which was slowly starting to drive Emma nuts. Susanna was actually being the best about it. Having had cancer herself, Susanna knew what a pain it was treating you like you were fragile.  
  
"The pain meds my doctors have me on are pretty good," Emma assured Courtney, "And I'll know if I'm getting worse because the pain will start again. I'm fine, Courtney, don't worry. Now come on, let's catch up to the others."  
  
They quickly did and headed back to the Jenny House. There, they were in for a bit of surprise. Because in the lobby, Richard Holloway was entertaining guests, which consisted of a red-haired man, a black-haired woman, a boy who looked to be about two, and a baby.  
  
"You know we're glad to have you come visit anytime, Katie," Mr. Holloway was saying warmly.  
  
"The others should be coming up later," Katie replied, "But I'm glad you agreed. I couldn't think of a better place than Jenny Chapel to baptize our own little Jennifer." She stroked the baby's cheek tenderly.  
  
"It's our honor," said Mr. Holloway. He finally noticed the group in the foyer, "Ah, come in everyone. I'd like you to meet a very special guest, Mrs. Katie Martel. And this is her husband Josh, their son, Aaron, and their daughter, Jennifer."  
  
"Hello," everyone said in unison.  
  
"This is Susanna Chen, one of my 'big sister' this year, and her cabin. In some ways, they remind me of your group your first you here," Mr. Holloway told Katie.  
  
"Pleased to meet you," said Katie, shaking Susanna's hand.  
  
"You too," Susanna replied, "And these are my roommates, Emma Kinney, Courtney Graczyc and Adora Foster, more fondly known as She-Ra."  
  
Katie laughed and shook three more hands.  
  
"Excuse me. Not to be rude or anything, but I kind of promised to be somewhere about now," Emma broke in quickly. Courtney gave her an odd look.  
  
"So, you won't mind if I leave, will you?" she continued.  
  
"It's not a problem with me," said Mr. Holloway, "Go ahead."  
  
Would he be so willing to let me go if he knew I was meeting my vampire boyfriend . . . in Jenny Chapel itself, Emma thought as she pushed open the door.  
  
"Hello Emmykins," Max said, lounging against a pew.  
  
"Could you have picked a better place to meet?" Emma asked him sarcastically.  
  
"Haven't you always wanted to exchange blood in a church with a demon?" Max said innocently.  
  
"Oh, you! If I know anything about you, Maxwell Jude Pine, I know that you're no demon."  
  
"There are some that would say that," he reminded her as they sat down in a pew.  
  
"And I wouldn't be choosing to become a vampire if I was one of those people," Emma replied, pushing her long brown hair off her neck. She could see a light go off in Max's eyes and smiled.  
  
"I'm not getting any healthier," she said, "Let's get on with this."  
  
Max traced a line along her neck. "It will sting at first," he said, "But if you don't struggle, it won't hurt. I promise."  
  
"That's good enough for me," Emma whispered.  
  
It did sting, at first, but Emma hardly noticed. Because she was thrown into a whole other world: Max's own mind. Their two souls intertwined as one and Emma found she could speak without words.  
  
This is absolutely . . . there are no words!  
  
Sharing blood is known to heighten the connection between two minds, Max explained, But the soulmate principal definitely has something to do with it.  
  
How could she have ever pushed Max away, scoffed when he called them soulmates? THIS was what was right, the two of them as one. They were two halves of the same whole. If this was what her mom had had, no wonder Stephanie had gone crazy upon losing it.  
  
When Max pulled away, Emma whimpered, not wanting this wondrous experience to end.  
  
"You have to take some of mine, too," Max said, making a quick cut in his wrist.  
  
That's right, Emma knew that. I'm going to be doing this everyday, she mused, I might as well start now. With that, she lifted Max's arm to her mouth . . . and drank.  
  
The blood was nothing like Emma had expected it to be. Max had called it 'the ultimate elixir,' but she hadn't known it would be so tangy, so heady, so absolutely addicting and intoxicating. Why would anyone use chemotherapy treatment? Susanna had described it to be absolutely horrible. But you needed something this wonderful to combat such a horrible disease as pancreatic cancer.  
  
"Did I ever tell you that I love you?" she smiled at him.  
  
"I always enjoy hearing it," he replied, "Now, we'll have to exchange blood about two or three more times before the change is complete."  
  
"I'm looking forward to it," Emma said honestly.  
  
Just then, they heard the chapel door opening.  
  
"Hurry, leave," Emma whispered, "You're not supposed to be here."  
  
Max was gone in a flash; vampire speed was definitely an advantage, Emma thought with awe. She quickly got herself into a prayerful position. Never mind that she'd just been exchanging blood with a vampire in the Lord's house.  
  
"Emma? Are you in here?"  
  
It was Courtney. That girl is going to meddle herself in too much some day, Emma thought with mild annoyance. Instead, she turned and smiled.  
  
"Hi. I just thought I would stop here for a minute. It's so beautiful," she said.  
  
"It is," Courtney sighed, "But come on. It's dinnertime. And Mr. Holloway's guests are staying for it."  
  
Emma followed Courtney back to the lodge where they joined all the others in the dining hall. Susanna waved them over from where she was sitting with Adora, Mr. Holloway, his guests, and Kimbra, a one armed woman who helped with recreational activities.  
  
Emma and Courtney joined them.  
  
"I see you got us the good seats, Susie," Emma teased.  
  
"You are so dead, Kinney," Susanna said, whirling around in her seat.  
  
"I'm shaking in my skin, Miss Dinosaur Bones," Emma laughed, sitting next to Susanna. She ducked a punch. "Come on, Susanna, you know it's all in fun."  
  
"Fun, my foot," Susanna grumbled.  
  
"Emma, why don't you tell us a little something about yourself," Katie cut in. It was obvious that she was trying to stop the fun, Emma thought. With a resigned sigh, she answered.  
  
"My name's Emma Kinney, I'm 17, and I'm dying of pancreatic cancer."  
  
"Pancreatic cancer?" Josh asked, "I thought that only attacked the elderly."  
  
"So did the rest of us," Adora cut in.  
  
"You look pretty healthy to be dying," Katie observed.  
  
"I'm actually feeling pretty good right now," Emma observed, "They've got me on strong pain medications."  
  
"You LOOK good," Courtney observed, "Your skin looks less yellow."  
  
Emma looked down at her arm with a jolt. Courtney was right. Her skin WAS less yellow than it had been. Her tan looked almost healthy. It's starting, Emma thought with awe; her transformation into a vampire was really starting. And with it, a new phase of her life. 


	11. Chapter Eleven

Ack! A thousand apologies for leaving you hanging this long for an update. There is a whole story involved. Here:  
  
Once upon a time there was a mediocre fanfiction writer called switz who had somehow managed to gather a small following. switz was generally a nice person, and so tried to update semi-regularly. This was all well and good until she got busy. Still, she managed to write most of chapter 11, and all of chapter 2 of her other story. Then, she had to go away for the weekend. It's okay, she reasoned, I'll upload things once I get back. But once she got back, she was swamped. She didn't have time to do ANYTHING. And just when she got to the point where she wouldn't be busy anymore . . . she lost access to her computer for a week. But fortunately, switz got her computer back, and so long as she didn't become very lazy, she shouldn't be overly busy again for a long while. The End.  
  
Well, I don't say it was a GOOD story. Anyway:  
  
bella ~ Thanks for reviewing. I'm actually a nice person, if you can believe it. Don't worry about not reading the Disclaimer. I always read them, just because I was spoiled once and I was mad, but I shouldn't expect others to read them.  
  
Beth ~ Aw, it's nothing. I like reviewing other people's stories. For Max, he doesn't need to kill to feed. He can just take as much as he needs and hypnotize the human to forget, and they'll be fine in a bit. As for Emma, yeah, I'd probably be screaming too if I found out I had cancer. I think I was trying to go for the absolutely stunned to the point she can't think anymore. Oh well. Thanks for your review!  
  
Mrs. B ~ You keep changing your name on me. Am I supposed to be calling you something different now? ( Anyway, glad you like it, and I hope I'll be better at updating now.  
  
Lesley ~ Wow! You're going to spoil me. My head is going to blow up and then it's going to explode and it won't be pretty. I mean, what can I say? I'm really glad that you liked my story, and I hope it stays up to your standards. The series is actually called the Night World series by L.J. Smith, and yeah, I totally stole the plot from book one, Secret Vampire and just tossed in the Lurlene McDaniel stuff. Honest.  
  
Okay, here it is. Finally ::collapses::  
  
Chapter 11  
  
After dinner, Emma found herself drawn to the lobby where the picture of Jenny Crawford was. Jenny Crawford, who had been JWC, Richard Holloway's love, and the person Katie had named her daughter after (or so she had informed the others at dinner).  
  
Jenny had bright blue eyes and raven black hair. She had posed for the portrait with a smile on her face, not giving a hint as to what troubles she had gone through. But Jenny hadn't had it easy. She had suffered from leukemia. Had she been in the same situation as me, Emma thought, I wonder what she would have done.  
  
"Beautiful, isn't she?" Emma turned to see Mr. Holloway settle himself on a couch, "Whenever I'm feeling down, I come here to look at Jenny and it gives me such a sense of peace."  
  
"Did Jenny want to live?" Emma asked.  
  
"Who doesn't?" Mr. Holloway laughed, "She loved life."  
  
"Would she have done anything to stay alive?" Emma blurted out.  
  
Mr. Holloway cocked an eyebrow, "What do you mean by that?"  
  
"Well," Emma said, carefully choosing her words, "Like what if her chance for life was to be turned into a vampire or something?"  
  
"What a silly idea. Vampires don't exist," Mr. Holloway laughed.  
  
"Well, yeah, I know that," Emma lied, "But this is a hypothetical situation we're talking about anyway. Let's make it completely crazy."  
  
"IF vampires existed, and being turned into one was her chance for survival . . . no, I don't think she would, nor would I have wanted it for her."  
  
"Why not?" Emma asked.  
  
"What's the point of living, if the price is to lose your soul?" Mr. Holloway said, "I don't think Jenny would wish that fate on anyone."  
  
It was pointless to tell him that she was pretty sure vampires HAD souls, after all, one was her soulmate. Instead, she just stared at the picture of Jenny. Just because something wasn't right for Jenny didn't mean it wasn't right for her, Emma told herself. We can't all be perfect angels. Some of us get to be nightmares.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Over the next couple of days Katie's friends arrived. Lacey and her husband, Jeff, Megan and her boyfriend, Morgan, and Chelsea, who was the single lady of the group. Emma tried to steer clear of them, though they seemed quite interested in talking with all of the participants. Emma couldn't get enough free time to see Max again until Sunday.  
  
"Will you be coming to church this morning?" Courtney asked Emma as they ate breakfast Sunday morning.  
  
Emma shook her head. "I'll be staring here."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because I'm not the right religion," Emma explained, "Mr. Holloway only has Jenny Chapel set up for Protestant Christians. I'm Catholic."  
  
"All right!" cheered Susanna, who was also Catholic. A Muslim girl, Fatima, who was sitting at the next table, smiled at them.  
  
"If you say so," Courtney said doubtfully.  
  
After breakfast, Courtney left for church with Mr. Holloway, the visitors, and a bunch of the other campers. Susanna led those of other religions into the lobby to play a game.  
  
"Going to join us, Emma?" she asked.  
  
"If you don't mind, I think I'll write a letter home," said Emma, feeling her soulmate's presence in her mind.  
  
"No worries. I trust you to be alone."  
  
"Gee, I feel so special," Emma said.  
  
"You should," Susanna laughed, "Go on, write home."  
  
Emma hurried to her dorm room where she saw Max lounging on the bed. Delighted, she pounced on top of him, laughing.  
  
"Whoa, Emmykins!" he replied, "Having fun?"  
  
"I am," she said, "And this vampire blood stuff has been making me feel better. I feel like it's fighting off all my cancer."  
  
"It is, but don't forget, it's also fighting off your blood," he reminded her.  
  
"Well, let's get on with this," Emma said bouncing up and down. The extra perkiness she'd had over the past few days had convinced her that she was making the right decision in the matter. She was almost excited to become a vampire, no matter what Jenny Crawford might think.  
  
Max laughed, and soon he was drinking Emma's blood yet again. Emma reveled in the feeling. It was such a pure feeling of giving. What better gift could she bestow on her soulmate than to give him her blood, her own life force?  
  
Max started to pull away when they heard it.  
  
"Oh, Emma, how could you?"  
  
Emma looked up, feeling a little woozy from the blood loss, to see Courtney standing in the doorway. Emma quickly covered the two rapidly healing bite marks on her neck and she saw Max surreptitiously wiping off his mouth.  
  
"You skipped out of church for THIS? You know Mr. Holloway said that no pre- approved visitors were allowed. And you know how he feels about visiting boyfriends. And here you are, sneaking together, making out in the dorms. How COULD you?"  
  
At least she only thinks we're making out instead of what we're really doing, Emma heard Max's voice in her head. She elbowed him.  
  
"Courtney, it's not what it looks like . . ." she began.  
  
"Emma and I had a specific reason we needed to see each other. And we're not done either. So if you wouldn't mind just leaving for a little while longer . . ."  
  
Courtney screeched. The intensity made Emma cringe. "Not in MY room you're not. Don't even think about it!"  
  
Oh great, Courtney had gotten a whole other idea from what Max had said, Emma thought with a sigh.  
  
"And I CAN'T believe you're thinking about it, not when Emma's so sick! You could have hurt her! You could have killed her!"  
  
"Court, you don't need to be so overprotective. I'm not made of glass," Emma muttered.  
  
"I want you out of here now!" Courtney continued to yell at Max, "Get out and don't come back! This is our safe haven and we don't need it disturbed by the likes of you!"  
  
Max looked hopeless to do anything. "Emmy . . . I'll see you later."  
  
"Oh no you won't! You'll leave right now and you'll go straight home. I don't want to see you around again, and if I do, I will tell Mr. Holloway straight away."  
  
Max looked pained as Courtney continued to drive him out the door.  
  
Emma felt dizzy. She had given who knows how much blood, and not received any in return. That could not be a good sign. She laid down on her bed and cried bitterly, all her plans in shambles. 


	12. Chapter Twelve

Whaddya know? I'm still alive. I didn't forget about you, really. I just . . . got busy and then distracted, and then decided I needed to take care of myself for a while. So yeah, that turned into a six month hiatus, and I haven't even bothered looking at my other story. So, I'll try to update something in the next couple of months, but no promises as it all depends on how I'm feeling.  
  
I'm too lazy to give shout outs to everyone so thank you if you reviewed my story since the last time I updated, whether you liked it or not. Thanks, I appreciate it. ::wanders off again::  
  
Chapter 12  
  
Courtney would not leave Emma alone over the next couple of days. During Jennifer Martel's baptism, during all the camp events, everywhere. Emma couldn't get a minute to herself. Emma found she could feel Max's frustrated presence at the edges of her mind, but neither of them could get close enough to do anything. And Emma's health started going downhill.  
  
Getting bit by a vampire wouldn't really affect an ordinary, healthy human. It was like donating blood; after a day or so, they'd be good as new. But Emma wasn't healthy to begin with; that would affect her more. Plus, she already had vampire blood fighting off her regular blood. It wasn't good. Emma knew she needed some of Max's blood or she wasn't going to make it much longer.  
  
Courtney, hovering so close, of course noticed the change in her health and became even more overprotective. It was starting to drive Emma nuts. If she could only get Courtney to leave her alone for just one minute . . .  
  
Courtney wasn't the only one who noticed, Mr. Holloway did too. He stopped her as she was trying to escape Courtney on Monday afternoon.  
  
"Emma, are you okay?" he asked concernedly, "You don't need to stay for the whole three weeks if you're not feeling so well. We can easily send you home."  
  
This would not be productive to her either. "No, it's okay, Mr. Holloway. I'm fine."  
  
"Maybe we should have the nurse look at you. You're so pale."  
  
"No really. It's just . . . my time of the month, and I always get like this."  
  
Well, Mr. Holloway couldn't argue with THAT. After all, she hadn't been on chemotherapy, and therefore, had no reason for her periods to end. So, he let her go, though she was certain he didn't quite believe her excuse.  
  
Courtney was also getting more and more worried about Emma's health. He was getting paler, the yellow tinge was creeping back into her skin, and she was always tired, weak and shaky. But the weirdest thing in Courtney's opinion was the change in Emma's eating habits. Emma had always had a pretty good appetite. Now, she was eating next to nothing.  
  
"Emma, eat something," Courtney argued as they went and got their dinner.  
  
"Nothing appeals to me," Emma said dourly, overlooking that night's fare. Finally, she settled on something, the ketchup next to the hamburgers. With her spoon, she plopped some on her plate and sat down with Courtney.  
  
"Please don't tell me you're going to eat only that," said Courtney, "Ketchup? For dinner?"  
  
Emma dabbed some on her finger and licked it off. Ugh, she thought. "No, I guess not," she sighed, "It's not what I want."  
  
Emma knew that ketchup was a poor substitute for what she really wanted, blood. She smiled wanly at the thought, wondering what Courtney would say if Emma actually told the other girl that what she was craving was Max's blood.  
  
"Then what do you want?" Courtney asked exasperatedly.  
  
Emma looked her straight in the eye. "You know what I need, and you're not letting me have it." Well, it was close enough to the truth without making Courtney think that she had completely lost it.  
  
"If it's that boy you're referring to, you know I'm doing this for your own good," Courtney told her.  
  
Emma sighed. "Whatever, I think I'm going to take a nap."  
  
"I'm coming with," Courtney said firmly, putting her dishes away and following Emma to their room.  
  
See? Not a moment alone, Emma thought. That time could have been spent to find Max. But Courtney knew her motives too well. With a sigh, Emma curled up under her blankets and went to sleep.  
  
Courtney watched her roommate sleeping, the dark circles under her eyes. That was it. She had to tell Mr. Holloway that Emma needed to go home. She was just getting worse and worse. Courtney knew Emma wanted to stay around, but she wasn't going to last much longer, and she deserved to be with her family.  
  
So once she was sure Emma was asleep, Courtney left, closed the door, and went out in search of Mr. Holloway.  
  
"I think he's at the stables," Susanna told her when Courtney asked.  
  
Adora, who had been playing chess with Susanna, nodded in agreement. "I saw him leave," she said, moving her rook and taking out Susanna's queen, "Check."  
  
"Why you!" Susanna spluttered then reverted her attention to saving her game. Courtney smiled, and then went outside to find Mr. Holloway.  
  
The night was warm, but there was a nice breeze, as Courtney walked along the way to the shadows. She loved how everything at Jenny House seemed so safe and secure. That was probably why Emma didn't want to go home. Courtney knew she had an uncomfortable family situation, with stepsiblings and a stepfather she didn't really care for, so who would blame her for wanting to leave paradise?  
  
It was just then that Courtney was dragged into the woods.  
  
She screamed and had a hand placed over her mouth, muffling the sound.  
  
"Now, now, we don't want to stir up the natives, do we?" said a decidedly masculine voice. Courtney knew that voice; it was Emma's boyfriend.  
  
She lashed back and kicked his shin, but the iron grip didn't waver. God, how much did he work out? Courtney thought as she struggled.  
  
After about five minutes a semi-amused voice broke in. "Are you quite done yet? I do want to talk to you."  
  
Courtney was so surprised that she stopped struggling immediately. As Emma's boyfriend let go, she turned around and took a few steps back, panting.  
  
"Have a seat," he offered, pointing to a stump which Courtney warily sat down on. After she caught her breath she looked back up at him.  
  
"I thought I told you to go away. Now I'm really going to have to tell Mr. Holloway."  
  
"Like you were just going to tell him that Emma needed to go home?"  
  
Courtney's mouth dropped open. "How did you know that's where I was headed?"  
  
"Uber-cool telepathic powers," was his answer.  
  
"Pbbt. You're already in enough trouble with me mister, don't get in any more."  
  
"Courtney," he sighed, "I need to see Emma."  
  
"Emma's dying and she's too fragile right now for your.encounters."  
  
He laughed. "Emma and I have a PG-13 relationship for now, don't worry. What we were doing was much more important."  
  
"How could it . . .?"  
  
He cut her off. "I'm a vampire and I'm turning her into a vampire as well."  
  
Courtney stared fore a moment, then broke out laughing. "You have got to be joking me!"  
  
"Listen, I went through a lot of mental anguish trying to figure out whether it was worth it to tell you or not. But Emma will die if I don't."  
  
"I can't believe you expect me to believe this," Courtney giggled.  
  
Max sighed yet again and showed her his fangs. With that, Courtney sobered up.  
  
"But why would Emma want to become a vampire?"  
  
"Because that's the only way she can keep from dying," Max said, "Listen, don't argue with me about the rights or wrongs of it. This is the decision she's made and it's only going to get worse if you don't let me give her some more of my blood."  
  
"Blood . . ." Courtney tasted the word on her tongue, "The ketchup. Oh God, it all makes sense now."  
  
Courtney started shaking on the stump where she was sitting. "Oh my God, you're a vampire, Emma's becoming a vampire, there are vampires. I don't believe it; I can't. Vampires are fairy tales and . . . no."  
  
"Courtney, I'm just as real as you are," he said, "I have a name, Maxwell Jude Pine, I have parents, the only difference is that I drink blood. Just like other vampires. We're the average human with a blood fixation. Well, and other minor details, but you know too much already."  
  
"What do I do?" she looked at Max fearfully.  
  
"You need to let me see Emma. She's made her choice, let her finish it."  
  
"O . . . okay," Courtney said shakily, standing up, "follow me."  
  
So instead of going to Mr. Holloway in the stables, Courtney did what she thought she'd never do; she led Emma's boyfriend back up to their room.  
  
"Emma," she said, gently shaking her roommate awake, "Someone's here to see you."  
  
Emma's eyes lit up at the sight of Max and she weakly reached towards him.  
  
"If you would leave us, please," Max told Courtney, and zombie-like, she obeyed, closing the door behind her. She collapsed on the nearest chair, hoping beyond all hope that she was doing the right thing. 


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Notes Wow, over a year, huh? I'm such a slacker. I admit, I've lost a bit of feel/interest for this story, but I also do feel bad about having left it unfinished while starting on something else, so I thought I'd try to get a bit out. Maybe it will inspire me again. Who knows? Merry Christmas and all.

Chapter Thirteen

"Max, I love you," Emma said.

"It's just the blood talking, darling," he replied, placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Maybe so, but that's still how I feel." Emma grinned up at Max. She was definitely feeling better than she had been in days, all thanks to his blood.

"And thanks to Courtney, too – who is standing right outside the door."

Emma giggled and got up to let Courtney into the room. As soon as she opened the door, she threw her arms around the blonde girl. "I don't think I can ever thank you enough!"

"I still don't really understand your choice," Courtney said, "But--"

"It's my choice to make," Emma finished.

Courtney settled herself onto her bed. "Are you a vampire now, then?"

Emma shook her head.

"One more exchange will do it," said Max, "as soon as possible. Then Emma will die. I'll be around to make sure that all the details of her burial are taken care of, and then a few days later once the change is complete, I'll dig her up."

"It sounds so morbid," Courtney mused, "When are you going to do this, then?"

Emma thought a moment. "There's the dance tomorrow night. If I sneak out early, no one should notice us. And we can finish this stuff."

Tomorrow I'm going to die, she thought, shivers running up and down her spine.

"That sounds like the best thing to do," Courtney agreed.

"Tomorrow, then," said Max. If he had been wearing a hat, Emma could have imagined him tipping it then, but instead he had to settle for a wink and a smile, and left in his mysterious vampire way.

That evening, Emma started completing all sorts of last minute tasks. These were things that needed to be done, of course, to tie up the loose ends there would surely be. Notes to her stepfather and –brothers, Raquel, etc, all along the lines of "if you're reading this, I'm dead."

The one to her mom was definitely the hardest. Emma chewed on the pen for quite a bit before finally writing:

"Dear Mom,

It's weird writing this to you knowing that if you're reading this, I'm no longer here. I'm really sorry things had to turn out this way.

Please don't worry about me, though. I'm fine. I know things are going to be hard for you, but everything's worked out for the best for me. And you have Mark and Sean and Kristen and Michael. Let them help you, Mom.

I love you so much, and hopefully depending on how things work, I may see you again someday.

Love,

Your 'Annie'"

With that letter, Emma put her voice to work and had Courtney help her record a tape of Christmas songs. Yes, it was a bit odd to be singing Christmas songs in June, but her mom had always liked them, and since Emma was a Christmas baby – well, it worked.

"I'll be home for Christmas/if only in my dreams," Emma sang to finish off her tape. That song had always been her favorite, and now it seemed to mean even more to her. Home for Christmas. How she wished she could be.

"Are you ready for this?" Courtney asked her.

"No."

But then, would she ever be? "Sometimes you just have to take the plunge, ready or not," she added.

"Suppose that's true."

A bit later, the girls were all crowded into the room getting ready for the dance. Lacey, Katie Martel's blonde friend had been peering in all the rooms in the hall and offering to help. At the moment, she was brushing baby blue eye shadow on Courtney.

"You look gorgeous," Lacey was telling her, "like a real princess."

"She's good with make-up," said Chelsea, who was leaning against the doorframe.

"I do consider it my specialty," Lacey grinned, "Like Emma over there, she'd look really good in shades of pink. Up to being my next victim?"

Emma wrinkled her nose. "Pink? Nuh-uh, you've got my look all wrong." With that, Emma started pulling smoky grays and bolder reds out of her bag, along with some loose curlers, "My best friend taught me how to do myself up really well."

So while Courtney was being transformed into a china doll, Emma loosely waved her long brown hair and applied make-up until she'd achieved her desired result. Smoky eyes, red lips and a definite Latina air.

"Okay, NOW I believe you're Mexican," Adora laughed. Even Lacey had to agree that it did suit her.

"Never would have thought to play it up like that."

Emma grinned. She looked good. Not a bad look at all for her last night alive.

And a few minutes later, they were off.

The dance was a dance. Emma would have liked it better if Max could have been there, but knowing he would be waiting back in her room made it worthwhile. It was interesting to see all the people she had gotten to know the past couple weeks all dressed up. She danced a couple of times, ate a bit of food and chatted with friends. But soon enough, it was getting close to the time she was planning to meet Max.

"I'm a bit tired," she told Susanna, smoothing out her orange dress. "I'm going to head to bed a bit early."

"Have a good sleep, then," Susanna told her, and like that, Emma was free from the dance.

She took deep breaths of the clear, cool air on the way back to her room. Pretty soon, her blood wasn't going to be able to support oxygen anymore, and breathing like this wouldn't really be an option anymore.

All right, she needed to get this done before the other kids started coming back from the dance.

"Wow," was all Max was able to say as Emma entered the room.

She grinned. "You like?"

"Si!"

"Oh, Max." She sat down on her bed, grinning.

He sat beside her and pushed a loose wave back. "Are you ready?"

Everyone kept asking her that. "I guess as ready as I'll ever be."

And so with that he bit, and the two minds merged once more in perfect unison. A few minutes later, he offered his own wrist for Emma, who drank, feeling more and more sleepy with each passing minute.

"It's really happening, isn't it?" she whispered, "I'm dying."

"You'll be back in a few days," said Max, laying her against the pillow, "And I'll be the first thing you'll see."

"I'd like that," she murmured, her lips getting heavier with every word. Part of her was scared, but Max was here and he said she was safe and – well, part of her did feel secure, floating in a bed of warmth, coaxing her to close her eyes and sleep. And so she did.

And with that, Emmanuelle Sage Kinney died.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

The next twenty-four hours were a mass of confusion, to say the least. Still, Courtney thought she played her part to perfection. She stayed at the dance as long as possible, in order to give Max and Emma time to…do their thing, and made sure to keep Susanna and Adora away as long as possible.

She let Susanna discover the body and call Mr. Holloway. Courtney wasn't sure she would be able to act well enough, knowing what was really going on. Still, it **was** a shock to see Emma lying there, not breathing at all. It was easy to forget that she wasn't really and truly dead, but rather, becoming undead…

She answered Mr. Holloway's questions as best she could. No, she hasn't noticed anything off about Emma before the dance. Yes, Emma had insisted she was fine once she left.

"How could this happen?" Adora whispered, big brown eyes threatening to spill over in tears any moment.

How Courtney wished she could tell Susanna and Adora what was going on; she hated seeing them so devastated! But she remembered what Max had told her, about it being dangerous enough that she knew about this. It was better for them not to know.

vvvvvvvv

Kristen was the one who answered the phone at the Taylor household, expecting her friend Natalie and certainly not Mr. Holloway's voice on the other line, asking to speak with Stephanie.

She felt hollow inside as she gave the phone to her step-mom, watching as Stephanie's face went white, as her grip on the phone lessened until it fell to the floor causing Mark, Sean and Michael to run into the kitchen. Watching as Mark picked up the phone himself and his face also going pale. She knew what Mr. Holloway was telling them; she'd known it from the moment when she's heard his voice on the other end of the line.

Kristen Taylor'd never liked her step-sister much, but she realized how integral Emma had been to this family, now that she was gone.

This shouldn't be happening.

vvvvvvv

Max stayed in the woods around Jenny House until such time as it was conceivable that he could arrive. It made it all the more convenient that Kristen had the presence of mind to call him, he thought. Now he had reason to show up at the Jenny House doors, looking all rumpled, meeting the Taylors there, telling them he couldn't help but drive down as well the instant he heard.

He managed to do what needed to be done, to make sure that Emma's not quite dead body wasn't damaged in any way. Vampire telepathy was certainly an advantage. Soon, and unpreserved Emma was wrapped up, ready to be transported back home for burial.

"Max, I just…I can't believe this," Kristen told him, twisting a strand of long brown hair around her finger.

Perhaps Max should have looked more closely at Kristen's expression, but when one's attempting to use the powers of persuasion on strangers to keep them from performing an autopsy, one doesn't necessarily think to do that.

vvvvvv

The funeral went about as well as could be expected, Kristen thought. Her black dress was proper for mourning her step-sister, but ever since she'd seen Max at Jenny House…no, before, ever since she'd called him, something hadn't been quite right for her. She couldn't place her finger on it and she felt horrible that she'd be feeling suspicious and skeptical over an unknown feeling when they were burying her step-sister, but that didn't stop Kristen one bit.

It seemed so final. The Mass, the priest's words, Raquel Samaniego giving a eulogy on her best friend and their years together. Lowering the coffin with Emma's body into the ground.

_You can't see her, how do you know she's really inside?_ Kristen couldn't help but wonder, looking at the coffin lid. _Ugh, what a weird thought_. She shook her head and looked up at Max who was staring at her oddly.

_Something's not right here, she thought. Something's** really** not right. I can't place my finger on it but I know it for a fact._

Max's behavior wasn't helping things either. Not one bit.

And so that's why she decided to keep a close watch on Max Pine over the next couple of days.

vvvvvvvv

He might have missed it at first, but after a coupl edays...Max wasn't stupid enough to not realize that Kristen suspected something was up, and he let her suspect it. She was a shrewd one, Emma's stepsister, and while the best thing would obviously be if she was as oblivious as the rest of her family on the matter of Emma, he could make use of her if she did discover the truth. So he let her see him buying the shovel at the hardware store the third day after Emma had been buried.

And now it was time, time to bring Emma into her new life, and then…well who knew what was happening next? Right now, Max was going to be focused on the present. And so he was, digging the newly packed dirt with his shovel until he reached the coffin underneath.

"Welcome back, Emma" he whispered with a slight grin, as he reached down to open the coffin and allow the new vampire to step out.

Until he was interrupted by a voice.

"What are you **doing**?"

Kristen, just as he was pretty much expecting.

"Hello," he replied, reaching down once more and opening the lid.

"You're going to defile a **dead** girl? Just how sick **are** you?" Kristen was continuing, coming over by him, "Max, I thought you were weird but I never thought…I…"

She suddenly looked a little bit frightened as if realizing that if Max **was** the necrophilic maniac she was thinking, then she herself probably wasn't safe here.

Fortunately, he was none of the sort. "I was hoping you'd come and join us, actually," he continued, "You see, I've turned your step-sister into a vampire, and she'll probably be quite hungry."

"You…uh?" Kristen looked as though she were about to lecture him, but stopped and turned rather pale instead.

Max turned around to see Emma standing in the hole, and looking out at Max and Kristen, her brown eyes looking positively delighted and her tongue licking over her new sharp canines.

"Hello, Emma," Max said, leaving Kristen to push a bit of her long brown hair out of her eyes.

It's like Max's touch woke Emma up from the half sleepy state she was in and she recognized her soulmate for who he was.

"I made it! It worked!" She grimaced, "It hurts."

He nodded. "You need to feed. I'm sure Kristen won't mind donating a little."

"I'm not going to let her kill me!" Kristen exclaimed in horror.

"Certainly not. She just needs a little bit to tide her over. Unless you'd like her to die again as soon as she came back."

Kristen was still obviously in shock about what she was seeing, and breathing heavily. "Okay Kristen. Don't think about it. Think later. Just **do **now." And so she slowly walked over to the graveside where the other two were standing and started to push her hair away from her neck.

"Oh, your wrist will be fine," Max said, taking her hand and offering it to Emma, who in an almost instinctual fashion, bit it and started drinking, feeling the ache in her body start to wane with the rich oxygen nourishment.

"All right, that's enough, Emma," Max said finally, as Kristen pulled her wrist back and massaging it with a dazed expression on her face. He turned to her and nodded, "Thank you," before pulling Emma out of the hold, closing the coffin lid, and starting to fill up the grave again.

"You turned Emma into a **vampire**. **You're** a vampire!" Kristen suddenly exclaimed, letting everything that she was seeing sink it.

"It was the only way, Kristen," said Emma, "Let me explain."

And so she did. Fortunately, Kristen was sensible enough that she didn't put up much of a fuss, although she still looked rather shocked to discover the existence of the Night World, rather unsurprisingly.

"What now, though? You can't come home…they all think you're dead."

Emma bit her lip at Kristen's question. "Max? Do they have Circle Daybreak in Mexico?"

"In Mexico?" he looked puzzled for a moment, "They're popping up everywhere. Why?"

"Let's go there!" she said, "If I can't go home, I at least want to go back to my roots. I never learned Spanish when I was alive…I regret that…"

"Mexico it is, then," said Max with a smile. "And who knows? Depending on how things turn out with the Night World and Circle Daybreak, maybe someday you'll be able to go home again."

"I hope so," she said.

With that, she suddenly gave Kristen a big hug. "You aren't bad for a step-sister, you know? I'll write you from Mexico, from a fake name. You watch Mom, okay?"

Kristen smiled. "I was already planning on it."

Emma nodded, glancing once more at her step-sister before turning back to Max and snuggling under his arm. This would work then. She would find her heritage, keep in touch with Kristen and know how her family was doing and wait for the day when she could be home for Christmas. Because it would come someday; she knew it.

vvvvvvv

Notes: Over two years, and this story is finally finished (why I should not try to write long stories, heh). I apologize, because I know that chapter wasn't up to my usual standard. I think when it comes down to it, I've outgrown this story, and outgrown this fandom. But I still wanted to finish it. It was originally going to end a bit differently and there was going to be a sequel, but there's no way that can happen, and I think I'm in general happy with this ending a bit better.

I'll be using this account for future fanfics in other fandoms (though I'm not entirely sure how many of those there will be either, because I've sort of moved from fanfiction to roleplaying as my means of creative written expression), but I don't think I'll be writing anymore Lurlene McDaniel. I enjoyed writing and my experiences over in this little corner of ffn.

So I suppose I just say: "So long, and thanks for all the fish." It's been a good go of it.

switz


End file.
